December 8, 2009

Cargill beef plant involved again in salmonella-based recall

A beef processing plant owned by Cargill Inc., in Fresno, Calif., is once again recalling thousands of pounds of ground beef because it has been linked to consumer illnesses caused by an antibiotic-resistant form of Salmonella, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

Beef Packers Inc. is recalling 22,723 pounds of ground beef that was produced in September and sold in Arizona under a variety of brand names.

It was the Arizona Department of Health Services, the USDA said, that confirmed that two people have gotten sick because they ate ground beef produced at the Fresno plant and that it was the Newport strain of Salmonella that was found in both the meat and people.

Beef Packers Inc. recalled 825,768 pounds of ground beef in August after the same Newport strain of antibiotic-resistant Salmonella was discovered in ground beef that caused illnesses in Colorado.

"This plant obviously has problems," said Tony Corbo, the senior lobbyist for the non-profit consumer organization Food & Water Watch. "There's something systemic within the plant or where it's getting its (meat) from."

Corbo suggested the USDA send a food safety assessment team to the Cargill-owned plant in Fresno.

USDA officials said they are investigating, but wouldn't comment on whether a food safety assessment team has been or will be deployed. Mark Klein, a Cargill spokesman, declined to comment on USDA's use of an assessment team.

The company is focused on cooperating with the USDA to conduct the recall, Klein said.

The Newport strain "is resistant to many commonly prescribed drugs, which can increase the risk of hospitalization or possible treatment failure in infected individuals," the USDA said. "The most common manifestations of salmonellosis are diarrhoea, abdominal cramps, and fever within eight to 72 hours."