WHERE DID THE E. COLI CONTAMINATED GROUND BEEF GO?

We were told today by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) that there is as much as 1.8 million pounds of ground beef out there somewhere in the United States that should not be eaten or even touched. Why? Because it could be contaminated with one of the very dangerous strains of E.coli bacteria - E. coli O157:H7.

This bacterium can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea, and abdominal cramps two to eight days after you ate the contaminated food. Yes, most people do recover within a week or so, but some (most likely young children and the elderly) can develop a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and end up in the hospital.

One of the problems with this recall is that we don’t know where the recalled products went. In other words, the distribution list hasn’t yet been given by the Wolverine Packing Company, of Detroit, Michigan, the food company involved, to USDA-FSIS. If you look back on recent recalls, such lists are usually released anywhere from one day to two weeks or more after a recall is announced. Part of the problem seems to be that some companies don’t keep good records. Another could be that they don’t want to lose their clients, so are reluctant to have them told by the government that they have been receiving bad meat.

In this case, the list of products recalled (which is very, very long) does not tell us much. But there are some possible clues. According to Wolverine Packaging, all of the illnesses that are believed to be linked to this bacterium and this company’s products occurred among people who ate undercooked hamburgers at restaurants - not in their homes - in four states - Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio. Reportedly, none of the product was labeled for retail sale in supermarkets and none of it went to the National School Lunch Program. That’s a relief.

Therefore, if you did not eat “rare” or “medium rare” hamburgers in a restaurant (or, fast food chain outlet) in the past month, you can relax. Besides, if you are reading this post, you can’t be dead yet. And, I assume you are more or less out and about. So either you did not eat this contaminated ground meat, ate it in a safely cooked mode (see my previous post), ate portions of it which were not too badly contaminated, or, ate it and got over your case of food poisoning. Congratulations!

However, next time you eat out, you may want to play it safe and ask for your hamburger “well done.” You’ll get to like it after a while. And what’s more, you don’t need to lie awake worrying about food poisoning for several days afterwards!

To your good health,

TSF

BEEF RECALLED BECAUSE OF E.COLI

It's about time. We have had so many incidents of Listeria monocytogenes in our U.S. food supply lately and some Salmonella bacteria as well, one began to wonder if E.coli had disappeared off the scene. It hasn't.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today that Dale T. Smith and Sons Meat Packing, of Draper, Utah, is recalling approximately 38,200 pounds of beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. They were distributed to retail and wholesale establishments in Salt Lake City and in California, and have probably been reprocessed, so goodness knows what label they are being sold under. The authorities suspect that a refrigerator malfunction caused the contamination.

The safety rules: 1) be careful when handling raw beef - especially ground meat- and simply assume that it is contaminated, and 2) cook it well. Don't eat your beef underdone.

To your good health,
TSF

GROUND BEEF RECALL IS EXPANDED

This is another case of "I told you so." The U.S. ground beef recall, due to contamination with E.coli 0157:H7 bacteria, has been expanded. (Read yesterday's post). Now more products are being recalled by the Michigan-based McNees Meats.

Here's the latest list of products:

1 and 10-lb. clear packages of “McNees Ground Beef Bulk.”
1 to1.5-lb., approximate weight clear plastic bags of “McNees Ground beef patties.”
1-lb. packages of “McNees Ground Round.”
1 and 2-lb packages of “McNees Ground Beef Bulk” sold in red and white plastic bags.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture doesn't know yet exactly where they were sold but says it will post the information on its website when it has it. If you are concerned, check: www.fsis.usda.gov/FSIS_Recalls
/Open_Federal_Cases/index.asp. Remember, it could take anywhere between 2 to 10 days for symptoms of E.coli to start occurring.

And cook all meat well, especially any ground meat.

To your good health,
TSF