National Steak and Poultry and Applebee’s Steak E. coli Lawsuits
Pritzker Olsen food safety attorneys are representing an Ohio woman and an Iowa woman, both of whom had steak at Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill in November 2009 and became seriously ill with E. coli O157:H7 food poisoning in the following weeks.
E.coli-contaminated steaks have been associated through epidemiological investigations to Oklahoma-based meat processor National Steak and Poultry, who recalled 248,000 pounds of steak on December 24 because of potential E coli contamination.
Long-Term and Life-Changing Effects of E. coli Food Poisoning
Both of these E. coli victims suffered through severe medical complications that can arise from an E. coli infection. Although initial symptoms of an E. coli infection include nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea with blood, more serious conditions can cause lifelong damage or even death. One of these clients developed a case of hemolytic uremic syndrome (E coli HUS) that caused her to be hospitalized for almost a month and has left her with long-term medical conditions including kidney damage severe enough to need dialysis for several months. The other client had to have her colon surgically removed due to the E coli infection, leaving her with an ileostomy, which is a life-altering condition.
Both clients were active members of their communities and enjoyed physical activities including golf and softball. The lives and livelihoods of both clients have been significantly changed as a result of their illness, which was tragic and preventable.
E. coli in Steak: A Little-known Danger
Most people associate meat-related Ecoli infections with ground beef because the grinding process can easily transfer bacteria from the surface of the beef to the inside of the beef patty–therefore making it more difficult to kill that interior bacteria during the cooking process. It is more commonly thought that since the bacteria on the surface of a steak has not been ground into the interior of the meat (as with a hamburger) that cooking steak easily kills exterior pathogens like E coli and therefore makes steak less of a risk for E coli food poisoning.
However, many steaks distributed to restaurants undergo a mechanical tenderization process, during which hundreds of tiny needles repeatedly puncture cuts of beef to make them more tender and juicy. Sometimes tenderizing fluid is also injected into the meat. This process allows surface pathogens to reach the interior of the meat, where it is more difficult to kill during the cooking process, as it is with a ground beef patty.
Source:
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/coli-tainted-beef-statewide-scare-meat-mechanically-tenderized/story?id=9455914
