Recalls Still coming in, Part 2

[PORKER]

WASHINGTON, August 6 - S&S Foods LLC., an Azusa, Calif., firm, is recalling approximately 153,630 pounds of frozen ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.


The following products subject to recall include:
30-pound boxes of “742798 MFST, 100% GROUND BEEF BULK, 80/20, 1LB. BRICK.”


Preparing Ground Beef For Safe Consumption

USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHOTLINE or visit www.fsis.usda.gov

Wash hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot, soapy water. Immediately clean spills.

Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods.

Consumers should only eat ground beef or ground beef patties that have been cooked to a safe internal temperature of 160°F.

Color is NOT a reliable indicator that ground beef or ground beef patties have been cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7.

The only way to be sure ground beef is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use a thermometer to measure the internal temperature.

Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within two hours after purchase or one hour if temperatures exceed 90°F. Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking.


These boxes of frozen ground beef products bear the establishment number “EST. 20375” inside the USDA mark of inspection, and a case code beginning “06238” ink-jet printed on the side of the box. This product was intended for food service and institutional use and not for direct retail purchase.

The problem was discovered through a joint epidemiological investigation by FSIS and the Virginia Department of Health as well as product testing by the Virginia Department of Health.
These ground beef products were shipped to distribution centers located in Milwaukee, Wis., and Allentown, Penn.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness.

FSIS has received 11 reports of illnesses associated with consumption of this product. Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a medical professional.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact Keith Dunning at (626) 625-2039. Media with questions should contact Jeff Grohs, company Vice President of Business Development at (626) 625-2039.

[Kato]

Just a thought here.

I wonder if the number of people becoming ill from this has a relationship to the increased number of people who really don't know the proper way to handle raw meat. As time goes by, the majority of consumers have become removed from the basics that were common knowledge in the past. Busy lives have led to an increase in the move to convenience, and away from the kind of cooking that our mothers and grandmothers did, and with it, the loss of an important knowledge base has occurred.

I did a quick count of the younger generation of family that I have, and can see a generation who has grown up cooking out of packages, not with raw materials. I am sure some have never handled raw chicken or hamburger. Just frozen prepared products. They just don't know what to do with it.

A lot of kitchen basics we take for granted are totally unknown to a lot of people. There are lots of people out there who have never peeled a real potato. I have lots of friends and relatives who have never made a pickle, and wouldn't know how to start. I know one person who told me that when she cans tomatoes, she never processed the jars! I just about dropped when she said that. The family as a high number of digestive incidents , and I can just imagine why. It's no wonder that sickness happens.

I think that ecoli has always been there, but now that there are less and less people with the knowledge to treat raw meat properly, we are going to keep seeing people get sick. Cleaning up the processing industry is only part of the problem. The other part is educating people on how to handle food when they get it home.

[Mike]

New Scientist
Food bug's Latin link - Deadly E. coli strains may have come from South America
10 January 1998

HAMBURGERS and meatballs from Latin America could reveal the deadly secrets of the food poisoning bacterium Escherichia coli O157.

British researchers, struggling to control a rising tide of infection with the killer bacterium, are now studying research which reveals that E. coli O157 and its close bacterial cousins are abundant in meat and human stool samples from Chile and Argentina. What's more, children from these countries have an extremely high incidence of the sudden kidney failure that can be caused by E. coliO157.

E. coli O157 may well have originated in South America, says Hugh Pennington of the University of Aberdeen, who headed the official inquiry into the outbreak in Scotland last winter that killed 20 people. "We import Argentinian meat, so there's plenty of scope for bacteria to come across," he says.

But even if the deadly strain emerged elsewhere, the high prevalence of strains related to E. coli O157, combined with a population that favours a meat-rich diet, make Argentina and Chile ideal places for discovering why the bacterium has become so dangerous.

E. coli O157 is one of several strains of E. coli that produce verocytoxins, poisons that seem to play some part in making the bacteria so harmful. In the early stages of infection, the toxins enable the bacteria to penetrate and burst open cells in the gut lining, causing abdominal pain and bloody diarrhoea. Nine out of 10 people fight off the infection at this stage, but some go on to develop haemolytic uraemic syndrome, a life-threatening kidney infection that can also cause brain damage.

The puzzle, says Pennington, is that some strains of verocytoxin-producing E. coli do not cause serious illness. Clearly, some other factors must lie behind the particular virulence of E. coli O157 and other deadly strains, such as E. coliO111:H, which caused haemolytic uraemic syndrome in 22 Australian children in 1995.

Pennington and other researchers are now hoping to analyse samples from Argentina, Chile and other Latin American countries in an attempt to link the genetic make-up of the various strains of verocytoxin-producing E. coli to the occurrence of haemolytic uraemic syndrome. If they can tease out which genes are critical for the extreme virulence of E. coliO157, drugs companies could work on ways to neutralise them.

By comparing the genetic sequences of the strains of E. coli present in Latin America with those elsewhere, it may also be possible to determine the birthplace of E. coli O157, says Pennington.

Circumstantial evidence already points to a Latin American origin for E. coli O157. In Argentina, according to the WHO, there are now around 8 cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome per 100 000 children under five years old, compared with typical incidences for all ages in most countries of between 2 and 3 cases per 100 000.

And Barbara Lund, an independent microbiologist formerly at the Institute of Food Research in Norwich, has unearthed research papers which reveal records of an unusually high incidence of the disease in Argentina and Chile going back as far as 1973, years before verocytoxin-producing E. coli were discovered in the northern hemisphere.

From issue 2116 of New Scientist magazine, 10 January 1998, page 12

[mrj]

Mike, I'm not sure of your point or direction here. That material is quite old, so is is valid today? How much, if any, raw, unprocessed hamburger is imported into the USA from South America? From which countries SA? Doesn't meat have to be cooked to be imported from many SA countries due to the problems of FMD? Or are you saying the ORIGIN or source of e coli in the USA must be from SA?

mrj

[PORKER]

Whole Foods Recalls Beef Processed At Plant Long at Odds With USDA

By Annys Shin and Ylan Q. Mui
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, August 10, 2008; Page A01

Whole Foods Market pulled fresh ground beef from all of its stores Friday, becoming the latest retailer affected by an E. coli outbreak traced to Nebraska Beef, one of the nation's largest meatpackers. It's the second outbreak linked to the processor in as many months.

The meat Whole Foods recalled came from Coleman Natural Foods, which unbeknownst to Whole Foods had processed it at Nebraska Beef, an Omaha meatpacker with a history of food-safety and other violations. Nebraska Beef last month recalled more than 5 million pounds of beef produced in May and June after its meat was blamed for another E. coli outbreak in seven states. On Friday it recalled an additional 1.2 million pounds of beef produced on June 17, June 24 and July 8, which included products eventually sold to Whole Foods. The recall is not related to the recent spate of E. coli illnesses among Boy Scouts at a gathering in Goshen, Va.

Whole Foods officials are investigating why they were not aware that Coleman was using Nebraska Beef as a processor, spokeswoman Libba Letton said.

The chain's managers took action after Massachusetts health officials informed them Aug. 1 that seven people who had gotten sick from E. coli O157:H7 had all bought ground beef from Whole Foods. The same strain has sickened 31 people in 12 states, the District and Canada.


So far, tests have not found contaminated Whole Foods beef, Letton said.

That was small comfort yesterday to some shoppers at the Whole Foods on P Street NW.

"I shop here because the standards are higher, so yes, this really concerns me," said Harry Harrison, 43, a District resident who shops almost exclusively at Whole Foods and buys beef at the store about once a week.

This latest outbreak was first identified in late July among customers of Dorothy Lane Market, a small Ohio grocery chain. Dorothy Lane also bought meat from Coleman Natural Foods, which bought primal cuts -- meat intended for steaks and roasts -- from Nebraska Beef. The E. coli strain found in the Massachusetts Whole Foods customers matches that Ohio strain.

Nebraska Beef, which continues to operate, had already been under close scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Agriculture since late June.

William M. Lamson Jr., a Nebraska Beef spokesman, said the company and the USDA had increased testing of its meat since then. It has found no E. coli O157:H7 in products made since July 8.

He said that since June, Nebraska Beef has hired food safety consultants and undertaken an in-depth review of its processes. USDA is doing the same.

"We will continue to investigate to see what is happening at the plant to see what they have to do to get a handle on their food-safety issues," said agency spokeswoman Laura Reiser.

[PORKER]

'Insanitary conditions' expand Nebraska Beef recall above the 3Million level as reported below

(MEATPOULTRY.com, August 14, 2008)
by Bryan Salvage


WASHINGTON -- Nebraska Beef Ltd., Omaha, is expanding its Aug. 8 recall of primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef to approximately 1.36 million lbs., which includes products bearing the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd", due to E. coli O157:H7 fears, according to the Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Approximately 160,000 lbs. being added to the recall includes primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef produced on June 24, with shipping containers and labels bearing the establishment number "EST. 19336" inside the U.S.D.A. mark of inspection and the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd."

Primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef produced on July 8, labeled "EST. 19336" inside the U.S.D.A. mark of inspection, the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd." as well as a 2-inch plain, circular green sticker on one side of the shipping box, are also included.

The recall expansion was initiated after F.S.I.S. concluded that the production practices employed by Nebraska Beef, Ltd. on June 24 were insufficient to effectively control E. coli O157:H7.

"The products subject to the expansion may have been produced under insanitary conditions," according to the agency. The expanded recall was not linked to the investigation of foodborne illnesses.

These products were sent to establishments and retail stores nationwide for further processing and will likely not bear the establishment number "EST. 19336" on products available for direct consumer purchase.

As of Aug. 11, there were 26 culture-confirmed cases in 10 states and one culture-confirmed case in Canada identified as part of this outbreak. This count is based on continuing testing, analysis and investigation.

[PORKER]

Salmonella finds in Mexico lead to import alerts

By David Mitchell

(Aug. 15, 12:33 p.m.) More than a dozen Mexican produce companies have been put on import alert by the Food and Drug Administration since July 11 due to positive tests for salmonella.

According to the FDA Web site, 12 companies have been placed on import alert due to positive tests on hot peppers, while four companies have been put on alert because of positive tests on basil. One company is on import alert for positive tests on cilantro.

The positive tests included several types of salmonella, including at least two of the Salmonella Saintpaul strain that has led to more than 1,400 reported illnesses in 43 states, Washington, D.C., and Canada.

Public health officials initially linked the outbreak to tomatoes in late May, but FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in early July that they were expanding their investigation to include other items found in fresh salsa.

FDA stepped up its sampling of tomatoes, jalapeño peppers, serrano peppers, basil and cilantro soon after.

“The vast majority of product tested was negative for salmonella, but there were scattered positives for other types in both domestic and imported product,” said FDA spokesman Sebastian Cianci on Aug. 14.

Cianci said it was not unexpected to see a spike in positive tests during a period of increased sampling.

The most recent import alert is from Aug. 12. The list of import alerts is available here.

It was unclear how many domestic companies have had positive tests. Cianci said FDA and state health agencies have been working with U.S. companies to ensure that affected domestic product is withdrawn from the supply chain.

FDA has had positive tests for Salmonella Saintpaul from at least three locations.

Cianci said samples of irrigation water and serrano peppers taken from grower Horticultores Unidos, Tamaulipas, Mexico, tested positive.

A tainted jalapeño sampled in a McAllen, Texas, warehouse was traced to Campo Blanco SA De CV, Tamaulipas. However, Cianci said it’s unclear where that product was contaminated.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment reported a jalapeño pepper, which was purchased at a Wal-Mart store and provided to public health officials by an ill consumer from Montezuma County, also tested positive for Salmonella Saintpaul.

Cianci said traceback in the Colorado case has not been completed.

FDA issued a consumer advisory for fresh jalapeño and serrano peppers July 21. Four days later, the agency altered the advisory to focus on jalapenos and serranos from Mexico.

Jesse Driskill, president of the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas, Nogales, Ariz., said his association has frequent food safety seminars for its members, as do Mexican grower associations in Sinaloa and Sonora.

“Most of the big shippers have excellent food safety and sanitary programs,” Driskill said. “Some of the smaller guys don’t. Unfortunately, the FDA lays a blanket across everyone.”

The CDC said Aug. 12 that the outbreak has led to 1,405 reported illnesses. While the most recent onset date of a reported illness was July 24, the agency cautioned that new cases still are being reported.

[PORKER]

Sure Slice-brand beef recalled in Canada

OTTAWA, Aug. 18


The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is warning Canadians not to eat Sure Slice roast beef or corned beef due to possible contamination.

The CFIA said the products, sold in one-kilogram packages, might be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

Being recalled by the manufacturer, Maple Leaf Consumer Foods of Burlington, Ontario, are Sure Slice brand Roast Beef (Product Code 21333), with a "Best Before" date of "AU 09" and Sure Slice brand Corned Beef (Product Code 21444), "Best Before AU 23."

The beef products were distributed nationally.

Consumers with questions can contact the company at 800-568-5801.

August 18, 2008

[ranch hand]

Mexican peppers posed problem long before outbreak

By GARANCE BURKE
Associated Press Writer

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SALMONELLA_PEPPERS?SITE=MTBIL&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[PORKER]

Maple Leaf meat recall hits McDonald's, Mr. Sub

COLIN McCONNELL/TORONTO STAR
Production was shut down at Maple Leaf's plant on Bartor Road in north Toronto after contaminated meat was discovered. Email story
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Meat recall hits fast-food outlets List of affected products CFIA recall notice

Source: Public Health Agency of Canada.
Health officials investigating whether food poisoning, death are related

Aug 20, 2008 02:36 PM
Comments on this story (22)
Paola Loriggio
STAFF REPORTER

Public health officials are investigating whether an outbreak of food poisoning that killed one person is linked to contaminated cold cuts produced at a north Toronto plant.

Seventeen people, 13 of them in Ontario, have fallen ill since June in an outbreak of listeriosis, a food-borne disease caused by listeria bacteria. An Ontario resident died of the illness.

Officials at the Public Health Agency of Canada say they know little about the outbreak or its victims, but are investigating a connection with a meat recalled by Maple Leaf Foods, which supplies companies including McDonald's and Mr. Sub.

The strain of listeria monocytogenes involved in the outbreak is the same one found in the meat, but that doesn't mean the two are related, said agency spokesperson Philippe Brideau.

The agency is asking victims to trace back what they have eaten in the past three months to see whether the outbreak is linked to the recalled cold cuts. It can take from two to 90 days for symptoms to appear, he said.

This morning, Maple Leaf Foods expanded a nationwide recall after bacteria was found in cold cuts produced at a Toronto plant that supplies companies including McDonald’s and Mr. Sub.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said the Maple Leaf meats – including sliced cooked turkey, roast beef, Bavarian smokes, corned beef, salami, ham and pepperoni – may be contaminated with the bacteria listeria monocytogenes.

The meats are sold under names including Schneiders, ML Sure Slice, Deli Gourmet, MSD, Burns, ML and FS. They include sliced turkey produced for McDonald’s and roast beef for Mr. Sub.

“These products have been distributed nationally, primarily to food service institutions such as restaurants, hospitals and nursing homes,” CFIA said in a statement. “In addition, these products may also be sold at retail and deli counters.”

None of the meat has been blamed for illnesses in humans, but “quite a large amount of product” is affected, said CFIA spokesperson Garfield Balsom.

In response, McDonald's has temporarily pulled the Turkey BLT sandwich from its Canadian menu, said spokesperson Louis Payette said.

Representatives of Mr. Sub and Maple Leaf could not be reached for comment this morning.

There are about 60 cases of listeriosis reported each year in Canada, but outbreaks are rare, Brideau said. About six have been reported since 1981, the first outbreak on record.

"It's not very common," he said. "It's not like salmonella. Most people have never heard about it."

Maple Leaf expanded the list of affected products after issuing a voluntary recall notice Sunday for two types of sliced beef sold under the Sure Slice name.

Although only a small batch products were found to contain listeria, Maple Leaf recalled dozens of products as a precaution and temporarily closed its Toronto plant to reassess food safety protocols there, according to a statement issued by the company.

Lists of the affected products are posted on the CFIA and Maple Leaf websites.

Consumers can also call Maple Leaf Consumer Foods at 1-800-568-5801 or CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 for more information.

[PORKER]

New Listeria Warning In Saskatchewan, Alberta
Safeway pre-made sandwhiches recalled

Reported By Patrick Book
Posted August 25, 2008 - 4:45am
With the Maple Leaf Foods recall continuing to expand the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is now warning consumers in Saskatchewan and Alberta they could be at further risk of Listeria bacteria.

In a news release issued this morning, the CFIA is warning that sandwhiches manufactured by Lucerne -- and distributed through Safeway in Saskatchewan and Take Away Cafe in Alberta Mac's stores -- could be contaminated as well.

In Saskatchewan, the products are Safeway brand sandwhiches that contain the ready-to-eat meat being recalled by Maple Leaf. You should watch for items with a "best before" date of August 25th or later, according to the CIFA..

So far no one has been made sick by these specific products. The initial recall of Maple Leaf Products is suspected to be responsible for the initial Listeria outbreak that has killed at least four people and made many others sick across Canada, including at least one in Saskatchewan.

For a full list of products affected by the recall check at Maple Leaf.

[PORKER]

Almost 50 more products added to meat recall list
Updated: Fri Aug. 29 2008 06:46:26

CTV.ca News Staff

The Maple Leaf Foods tainted meat recall expanded even wider Friday with nearly 50 products added to the list.


The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) lists the products, which include a variety of ready-to-eat sandwiches, in detail on its website.


Many of the products -- including hospitality and party trays, submarine sandwiches and wraps -- were sold in Sobeys and Foodland stores throughout Atlantic Canada.


The items have best-before dates up to and including August 25, 26 and 27.


A variety of turkey sandwiches made and sold in Ontario at Loblaws, Loblaw Superstore and Real Canadian Superstore are also listed.


Three types of submarine sandwiches made and sold at Loblaws and Provigo stores in Quebec have been recalled along with four products sold at IGA, Bonichoix, Tradition and Omni stores in the province.


Another seven products sold at IGA and Sobeys outlets in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have been added.


White House Meats Inc. has also recalled oven roasted turkey breast sold at two of its Toronto locations.


On Thursday, the number of confirmed deaths in Canada being blamed on a nationwide outbreak of listeriosis jumped from five to eight.


Mark Razienne of the Public Health Agency of Canada, speaking at a press conference in Ottawa on Thursday, said all three of the latest victims are from Ontario, and had previously been on a list of deaths under investigation.


According to the agency there are 29 confirmed cases of the outbreak strain in the country and 36 cases under investigation.