October 30, 2007

USDA downplays Canada's role in Topps beef recall

The recent discovery that a Canadian company supplied E. coli-contaminated beef to a US processor represents only "one particular case that has led to a sizable recall," Acting US Department of Agriculture Secretary Chuck Conner said Monday (October 29).

Canada and the US worked together to uncover the source of contamination that led to a 21.7-million-pound recall of hamburger patties in September by the New Jersey-based Topps Meat Co. Conner said and the relationship between the two countries in beef trade issues is strong.

Beef products sold in the US are safe, Conner told reporters, but also stressed that the US is tightening its beef safety regulations in the wake of the Topps recall.

Alberta-based Rancher's Beef Ltd. sold beef contaminated with the deadly E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria to Topps, according to an Associated Press story.

Topps failed to recognize the threat in the beef and, as a result, at least three consumers in New York and Florida were sickened after eating the hamburger patties.