October 2, 2007

US beef supply safe, assures USDA official 

Meat supply in the United States is safe, assures an official from the US Department of Agriculture on Monday (October 1) amid the recall of 21.7 million pounds of ground beef suspected of E. coli contamination.

Dr. Richard Raymond, the Agriculture Department's undersecretary of food safety, said that while an investigation found inadequate E.coli safety measures at the Topps Meat Co. plant in New Jersey, where the beef was processed, the government is still in control of the problem.

The recall came after more than a dozen people in eight states fell sick, and several were confirmed as getting E. coli from Topps products. Other cases are under investigation.

Raymond urged consumers to take certain precautions when handling raw meat at home, including: washing hands when handling raw meat products, using a separate cutting board to prepare meats, cooking ground meat to 160 degrees Fahrenheit and use a food thermometer to verify the temperature.

People should also check their freezers to make sure they do not have any of the recalled beef, Raymond said.

The recall represents all Topps products with either a "sell by date" or a "best if used by date" between September 25 this year and September 25, 2008. The Elizabeth-based company said this information is found on a package's back panel. All recalled products also have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and-or in the USDA legend.

A Topps official said over the weekend that the company has now intensified its processing procedures with microbiologists and food safety experts.