November 27, 2007

USDA warns of more E.coli-contaminated beef

The US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service issued a warning to Midwestern states, including Ohio, that about 96,000 pounds of ground beef might be contaminated with E. coli bacteria.

USDA says products have a late-October expiration date, thus, it might have been eaten, either at home or in a restaurant. Or it could be awaiting its culinary cue at homes.

E. coli strain O157:H7 is potentially fatal. It is the same strain found in the Topps recall, which was the second-largest in US history. The USDA classifies it as a "Class I" or high health risk. It also notes some rather unpleasant symptoms, including bloody diarrhoea and dehydration.

The USDA Web site shows that there has been 35 other meat pork or poultry-related recalls this year. Seven recalls were done for ground beef.