E. Coli Illnesses Prompt Ground Beef Recall

ASHVILLE, N.Y. (AP) -- Two deaths and 26 other illnesses may be linked to fresh ground beef that has been recalled because it might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, a federal health official said Monday.

One of the deaths involved a New York adult with several underlying health conditions, said Lola Scott Russell, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The other is a death previously reported by New Hampshire, where state health officials said a patient died due to complications.

Russell said all but three of the suspected infections are in the northeastern U.S. and 18 are in New England.

Ashville, N.Y.-based Fairbank Farms recalled almost 546,000 pounds of fresh ground beef that had been distributed in September to stores from North Carolina to Maine. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recall notice, dated Saturday, said that the possibly tainted meat had been sold in numerous ways, from meatloaf and meatball mix to hamburger patties.

Some of the ground beef was sold at Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Lancaster, Wild Harvest, Shaw's, BJ's, Ford Brothers and Giant stores in packages that carried the number "EST. 492" on the label. Those products were packaged Sept. 15-16 and may have been labeled with a sell-by date from Sept. 19 through Sept. 28, meaning they're no longer being sold as fresh product in supermarkets, Fairbank Farms said.

The rest of the ground beef, packaged in wholesale-sized containers under the Fairbank Farms name, was distributed to stores in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. That meat was likely repackaged for sale and would likely have differing package and sell-by dates.

The USDA was urging customers with concerns to contact the stores where they bought the meat.

Fairbank's CEO, Ron Allen, urged consumers to check their freezers for the recalled ground beef.

Located in the southwestern corner of New York a few miles from the Pennsylvania line, Fairbank Farms has had two other voluntary recalls over the last two years, according to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

In September 2007, the company recalled 884 pounds of ground beef products because they may have been contaminated with E. coli, the agency said. And in May 2008, it recalled 22,481 pounds of ground beef products that may have contained pieces of plastic.

Symptoms of E. coli infections include stomach cramps that may be severe and diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days. E. coli infections can sometimes lead to complications including kidney failure.

Symptoms usually show up three to four days after a person eats contaminated food, although in some cases it can be as long as eight days. Officials said anyone having symptoms should immediately contact a doctor.

Russell, the CDC spokeswoman, said the E. coli strain involved in the recall, 0157:H7, infects about 70,000 Americans a year and kills 52.

After dropping for a few years, annual recalls of ground beef and other beef products contaminated with E. coli have rebounded, with at least a dozen recalls through October 2009, according to USDA data.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York wants federally mandated E. coli inspections of all ground beef.

"This is a stark reminder that food is still going straight to our kitchens and grocery stores without being properly tested to ensure its safety," Gillibrand said. "It's spreading too many diseases and costing too many lives. ... It's time to address the gaps in the inspection process."

Associated Press writer Jessica M. Pasko contributed to this report from Albany, N.Y.

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Well DUH! 11/2/2009 4:48:00 PM I do hate to blame the victims here, but isn't the prevailing wisdom to treat all ground beef as if it was E. coli positive, cook it thoroughly, and be concious of cross-contamination???? It's not rocket surgery....
FDA taking responsibility...there are kids at stake...not just adults. 11/2/2009 5:23:00 PM Can you still get E. coli if the meat is cooked thoroughly? YES! Plus the people that died had underlying conditions already. I doubt it was 'their fault'. What an asinine thing to say. There are kids at stake here...not just unhealthy adults.
546,000 pounds 11/3/2009 8:54:00 AM I wonder what a 546,000 pound pile of rotting meat looks like? What do they do with all of this, plow it under and plant spinach?
Can you still get E. coli if the meat is cooked thoroughly? 11/3/2009 9:53:00 AM Can you still get E. coli if the meat is cooked thoroughly? Absolutely NOT! Oh but there's kids eating this, well that changes everything....I demand an FDA inspector in every grocery store, and two in my kitchen. Won't somebody think of the children!!!!! What an asinine thing to say!
How bright do you have to be? 11/4/2009 3:17:00 PM Especially with all of the publicity in the previous year it would seem that everyone would know that you have to cook ground meat completely, to as to be well done, which will kill any bacteria that might be present. I know of no other practical way to do this. Sorry Charlie...no pink centers and NOBODY should be stupid enough to eat it RAW! The real shame here is that a half million pounds of ground beef that would have nothing in the world wrong with it if cooked properly! Ever notice how the fast food places have their hamburger patties real thin, but large in diameter? That is so they will cook completely but quickly. Let the consumer take responsibility for their own actions.
We are the shame of the industrialized world 11/9/2009 12:48:00 PM No other industrialized nation would accept the lack of processing standards in the American meat butchering and packaging industry. It is why so many governments refuse entry of American beef and American pork into their countries. They are simply looking out for the health of their citizens when the US refuses to regulate the meat packers in this country. With mass production and a lack of proper procedures their is going to be contamination and when it occurs it is going to be mass produced contamination. It is completely unnecessary but highly profitable to operate this way and the American way has come to mean to hell with everyone else so long as companies can make higher profits and pay their executives more and pay higher dividends to their shareholders. Upton Sinclair would be amazed that nearly a century later we still operate in such a laissez faire manner in the USA. My response is to never eat ground beef or pork unless I am overseas and no seafood that is not locally caught and no produce that is not locally grown. Why should I jeopardize my health so some executive can get a bigger bonus.
Hazardous Beef 11/11/2009 5:58:00 AM Why should I have to treat beef as if it's hazardous waste until I cook it? Why would anyone even want to eat something that you need to wear gloves to handle? E.Coli come from animal crap and I want to eat meat without crap in it. Let the consumer take responsibility and boycot ground beef. I'll stick to steak.

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