Nebraska Recall Expands Ten Fold

US - A Nebraskan establishment is expanding its recall by ten time after fears that many more products may be contaminated with the deadly E. coli O157:H7
calendar icon 7 July 2008
clock icon 2 minute read

The recall began on June 30, but after further investigation by the US Food Safety and Inspection Service the recall was expanded by ten times. Now the list includes all beef manufacturing trimmings and other products intended for use in raw ground beef produced between May 16 and June 26, totaling approximately 5.3 million pounds.

This recall is being expanded based on the ongoing epidemiological and traceback investigations of a foodborne illness outbreak.

FSIS has concluded that the production practices employed by Nebraska Beef, Ltd. are insufficient to effectively control E. coli O157:H7 in their beef products that are intended for grinding. The products subject to recall may have been produced under insanitary conditions.

The products subject to recall were further processed into ground beef at other firms, and will likely not bear the establishment number "EST 19336" on products made available for direct consumer purchase.

The epidemiological investigations and a case control study conducted by the Michigan and Ohio Departments of Agriculture and Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention determined that there is an association between the ground beef products and 40 illnesses reported in Michigan (21) and Ohio (19). The illnesses were linked through the epidemiological investigation and by their PFGE pattern, or DNA fingerprint, found in PulseNet, a database maintained by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Also as a result of the investigation, on June 25 FSIS announced a recall of ground beef products sold at Kroger retail establishments in Michigan and in Central and Northwestern Ohio.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure.

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