Meat recalls point to possibility threat is growing
Posted
(10/2/2007 12:45 AM)
12h 3m ago
By Julie Schmit, USA TODAY
Last week's recall of 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburger because of potential E. coli contamination is bound to fuel concern that E. coli outbreaks may be on the rise in the USA's meat industry for the first time this decade.
The ground beef recall by Topps Meat is second in size only to Hudson Foods' 1997 recall of 25 million pounds of ground beef. And it comes just three months after a recall of 5.7 million pounds of ground beef tied to E. coli. The Topps recall has been linked to 27 reported illnesses, three confirmed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
The beef industry suffered its E. coli crisis in the early 1990s. But it tightened food-safety standards and reduced outbreaks so successfully that even critics held it up as a model of what industry could do. But the American Meat Institute (AMI) says it noticed a slight rise in positive E. coli tests by the government this summer and so met with industry leaders. "It's caused us to pause," says Randy Huffman, vice president of the AMI Foundation. "We've redoubled our efforts and focused on the things that work."
The USDA sample-tests about 8,000 products a year for the deadly E. coli O157:H7 strain identified in the Topps recall. The rate of positive tests has shrunk about 73% since 2000 but trended up in 2007 compared with the past three years.
Huffman says the rise could simply be a "random event." But Bill Marler, the nation's leading E. coli plaintiff's attorney, says, "Something has changed, and it has not changed for the better."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: E coli US Department of Agriculture Meat E coli O157: H7
The Topps recall is likely to focus attention on industry practices. Topps last Tuesday recalled 332,000 pounds of ground beef. The recall expanded Saturday to a full year of production — an unusually long time frame — after USDA inspectors found that the plant lacked appropriate controls regarding beef carried over from one day's production to the next, says USDA spokeswoman Laura Reiser. Meat can be carried over from one day's production to the next if separated into its own production lot for tracking, says Janet Riley of the AMI. That helps companies trace when contamination may start and stop.
Topps spokeswoman Michele Williams says Topps had no information on the USDA's inspection, begun last week. The USDA routinely had inspectors in the 80-employee Elizabeth, N.J., plant, as is common in the meat industry.
Most of the product has likely been consumed, but consumers should check freezers, officials say.
The product, mostly preformed patties, was distributed nationwide. The packages have the establishment number 9748 and sell-by dates of Sept. 25, 2007, through Sept. 25, 2008. The plant has halted production, and the investigation continues. A recall list is at www.toppsmeat.com.
Last week's recall of 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburger because of potential E. coli contamination is bound to fuel concern that E. coli outbreaks may be on the rise in the USA's meat industry for the first time this decade.
The ground beef recall by Topps Meat is second in size only to Hudson Foods' 1997 recall of 25 million pounds of ground beef. And it comes just three months after a recall of 5.7 million pounds of ground beef tied to E. coli. The Topps recall has been linked to 27 reported illnesses, three confirmed, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says.
The beef industry suffered its E. coli crisis in the early 1990s. But it tightened food-safety standards and reduced outbreaks so successfully that even critics held it up as a model of what industry could do. But the American Meat Institute (AMI) says it noticed a slight rise in positive E. coli tests by the government this summer and so met with industry leaders. "It's caused us to pause," says Randy Huffman, vice president of the AMI Foundation. "We've redoubled our efforts and focused on the things that work."
The USDA sample-tests about 8,000 products a year for the deadly E. coli O157:H7 strain identified in the Topps recall. The rate of positive tests has shrunk about 73% since 2000 but trended up in 2007 compared with the past three years.
Huffman says the rise could simply be a "random event." But Bill Marler, the nation's leading E. coli plaintiff's attorney, says, "Something has changed, and it has not changed for the better."
FIND MORE STORIES IN: E coli US Department of Agriculture Meat E coli O157: H7
The Topps recall is likely to focus attention on industry practices. Topps last Tuesday recalled 332,000 pounds of ground beef. The recall expanded Saturday to a full year of production — an unusually long time frame — after USDA inspectors found that the plant lacked appropriate controls regarding beef carried over from one day's production to the next, says USDA spokeswoman Laura Reiser. Meat can be carried over from one day's production to the next if separated into its own production lot for tracking, says Janet Riley of the AMI. That helps companies trace when contamination may start and stop.
Topps spokeswoman Michele Williams says Topps had no information on the USDA's inspection, begun last week. The USDA routinely had inspectors in the 80-employee Elizabeth, N.J., plant, as is common in the meat industry.
Most of the product has likely been consumed, but consumers should check freezers, officials say.
The product, mostly preformed patties, was distributed nationwide. The packages have the establishment number 9748 and sell-by dates of Sept. 25, 2007, through Sept. 25, 2008. The plant has halted production, and the investigation continues. A recall list is at www.toppsmeat.com.
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