Spinach E coli Study Shows Importance of Colder Refrigeration
A very large and deadly spinach E. coli outbreak hit the United States in September 2006 in which 199 people in 26 states were sickened after eating contaminated, bagged spinach grown in San Benito County, California. Four deaths were linked to the outbreak and 102 people were hospitalized, including 31 who developed life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
For most Americans, it came as a shock that something as healthy as spinach could cause fatal disease and illness on such a wide scale. Studies have been done since the outbreak on the clustering of pathogenic bacteria inside sealed plastic bags of leafy green produce.
The most recent study, completed in October 2009 by scientists from USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, evaluated the effect of temperature during storage of bagged spinach inoculated with E. coli O157:H7. The results were instructive on how the grocery industry and consumers should pay attention to refrigeration to reduce the threat of microbiological hazards in bagged greens.
The study by Yaguang Luo, Qiang He, James McEvoy and William Conway found that E. coli O157:H7 can grow significantly on commercially packaged spinach held at 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit (8 C) or above before significant product quality deterioration occurs.
Bagged E. coli spinach held at 53.6 degrees (12 C) supported “significant” growth of the bacteria within only three days of storage and continued to grow with each additional day of storage until the spinach became noticeably deteriorated by Day 9.
When held at 46.4 degrees (8 C), E coli initially grew slowly but bacteria growth was significant after 6 days of storage, the study found.
On the contrary, bagged spinach held at 33.8 degrees and 41 degrees experienced significant declines in E. coli O157:H7 populations within 3 days of storage.
E coli Steak Recall and Restaurant Steak E coli Outbreak
National Steak and Poultry of Oklahoma has recalled 248,000 pounds of various steak products that were processed on four different days in October and may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a human pathogen banned from hamburger and mechanically tenderized or injected beef steak (legally known as non-intact steak).
Federal health investigators said they became aware of the problem at National Steak and Poultry while investigating a multi-state cluster of E. coli O157:H7 infections. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), which has been working with state health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said late Thursday in the recall press release that there is an association between blade-tenderized non-intact steaks and E. coli illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington.
The restaurant steak E. coli outbreak and recall does not identify which national restaurant chains received the steaks, nor did it say how many people have been infected by the outbreak strains of E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly pathogen that is especially dangerous for young children, adults older than 60 and others with weakened immune systems. In more than 5 percent of cases, extremely painful and bloody diarrhea is followed by a life-threatening condition known as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP).
Health officials are urging anyone with signs of the disease after eating steak at a restaurant to see a physician immediately. For legal questions, call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). The firm has been investigating the outbreak for more than a week and has been contacted by at least one potential victim.
According to the National Steak and Poultry recall, the products in question were packaged on October 12, 13, 14, and 21 and shipped to restaurants nationwide. The cases bear the USDA plant I.D. number of 6010T inside the USDA mark of inspection.
Here is the complete list of recalled products:
- 4-ounce “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “SC68408.”
- 6-ounce “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “SP680608.”
- 8-ounce “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “SC68808”
- 9-ounce “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “SC68908.”
- “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BONELESS BEEF TIPS,” with an identifying case code of “69108.”
- “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK” with an identifying case code of “XXSP68008.”
- “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY SAVORY SIRLOIN TIPS” with an identifying case code of “XX69008.”
- 5-ounce “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BACON WRAPPED BEEF FILLET,” with an identifying case code of “23508.”
- “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY USDA SELECT BEEF SHOULDER MARINATED TENDER MEDALLIONS” with an identifying case code of “23289.”
- “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY 75% BONELESS BEEF TRIMMINGS,” with an identifying case code of “33575.”
- “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BEEF TRIMMINGS,” with an identifying case code of “36545.”
- “NATIONAL STEAK AND POULTRY BEEF SIRLOIN PHILLY STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “88008.”
- 4-ounce “EGN BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “680425.”
- 7-ounce “EGN BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN TRI TIP STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “69725.”
- 9-ounce “EGN BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN TRI TIP STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “680925.”
- 7-ounce “KRM BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “680715.”
- 9-ounce “KRM BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “680915.”
- 12-ounce “KRM BONELESS BEEF SIRLOIN STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “680215.”
- 8-ounce “CARINO’S BONELESS BEEF OUTSIDE SKIRT STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “130874.”
- “CARINO’S BONELESS BEEF OUTSIDE SKIRT STEAK PIECES,” with an identifying case code of “13074.”
- “MOE’S BEEF STEAK,” with an identifying case code of “78027.”
CDC Warns Consumers on E coli Ground Beef
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is representing the family of a 5-year-old from Auburn, Maine, who was hospitalized with HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, for three weeks. The child ate ground beef processed by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, New York, which recalled 545,699 pounds of ground beef and related products due to the possibility it could be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has a standing advisory out to consumers to check their refrigerators and freezers for ground beef products produced by Fairbank Farms and purchased on or after September 15 from a variety of retailers in the Northeast.
Rhode Island E coli Lawsuit Is 2nd from Outbreak
The family of an 11-year-old girl from Lincoln, Rhode Island, has filed a ground beef E. coli lawsuit against the company that supplied fresh hamburger meat to the Camp Bournedale nature camp in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
According to the suit filed late last week in Plymouth Superior Court, Rhode Island Lincoln Middle School student Lynne Santos was one of more than 30 students and chaperones who were sickened after eating a meal of hamburgers during their school trip to Bournedale. The Santos child fell severely ill and was hospitalized for four days, according to the suit.
It is the second Lincoln Middle School E. coli lawsuit filed against the ground beef maker, South Shore Meats of Brockton, Massachusetts. As part of the public health investigation into the outbreak, investigators tested leftover hamburger meat from Camp Bournedale and found it contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. South Shore Meats and the USDA’s Food Safety an Inspection Service announced a recall of more than 1,000 pounds of the ground beef, which was mostly sold to commercial kitchens in New England.
The owner of Camp Bournedale has said since the outbreak that camp cooks will never again prepare hamburgers for visitors from fresh ground beef, which is a common vehicle of transmission for E. coli O157:H7. Nationwide, there have been 18 ground beef E. coli outbreaks since 2007, all resulting in lawsuits. The most recent came just after the Camp Bournedale illnesses. The multi-state Fairbank Farms E. coli outbreak has sickened at least 25 people in 10 states, killing two and causing at least three cases of E. coli HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, a life-threatening complication of E. coli infection.
Minnesota Harvest Petting Zoo E coli Outbreak
Sponsel’s Minnesota Harvest Petting Zoo near Jordan, Minnesota, was temporarily shut down after preliminary tests by the state health department found that a 3-year-old boy’s E. coli infection may have been caused by contact at the zoo.
Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is investigating whether others may have contracted E. coli O157: H7 at the petting zoo, which is 12 miles south of Shakopee and part of an attraction that also includes an apple orchard. The orchard at Sponsel’s Minnesota Harvest is not associated with this potential E. coli outbreak.
Our firm is representing the toddler. He appears to have contracted the disease from a llama at the petting zoo. The child spent 11 days this month in a Twin Cities hospital fighting hemolytic uremic syndrome, or HUS, a life-threatening complication of an E. coli infection. According to a recent study, 3 percent of E. coli HUS cases end in death when involving a child under 5 years old.
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) found a strain of E. coli O157:H7 in the feces of a llama at the petting zoo that genetically matched the strain of E. coli O157:H7 that sickened the 3-year-old.
E. coli O157:H7 is one of the most common and most dangerous kinds of intestinal disease agents associated with animal contact. Pritzker Olsen practices extensively in cases dealing with the pathogenic bacteria and currently represents victims of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak at the 2009 National Western Stock Show in Denver.
“Despite state guidelines recommending sanitation measures to ensure the safety of visitors to petting zoos, it appears the operator of this facility did not follow all of these guidelines,” stated Attorney Fred Pritzker. “The Minnesota Department of Health regularly sends these guidelines to petting zoos. This outbreak might have been prevented if this business had put safety first.”
For a free consultation with an attorney regarding your E. coli poisoning case, please call 612-338-0202, call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or submit our online form.
