February 4, 2010
E. coli continues to haunt US beef sector
The US beef industry continues to experience troubles with E. coli, as the pathogen has led to recalls of 1.6 million pounds of beef products in the past three months.
On Tuesday (Feb 2) evening, West Missouri Beef recalled 14,000 pounds of boneless beef products due to potential E. coli contamination.
On January 18, 2010, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the recall of 846,000 pounds of ground beef products produced by a California-based Huntington Meat Packing, Inc., due to potential contamination by E. coli.
On January 11, 2010, Adams Farm Slaughterhouse recalled about 2,574 pounds of beef products. The recall occurred in the wake of an epidemiological investigation into the E. coli illness of at least one Massachusetts resident.
In November 2009, ground beef from a New York ground beef company called Fairbank Farms was recalled, after an E. coli outbreak led to 26 illnesses, 19 hospitalisations and five who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
On December 24, 2009, National Steak and Poultry recalled at least 124 tonnes of mechanically tenderised beef products. The National Steak and Poultry outbreak caused at least 21 E. coli illness in 16 states, including nine hospitalisations and one case of HUS.
Together, the recalls and outbreaks linked to beef from Adams Farm, National Steak and Poultry, Fairbank Farms, and West Missouri Beef have caused at least 48 illnesses nationwide.
