November 18, 2019

     
US meat company recalls more than 34,000 pounds of ground beef shipped to California

A meat company in the United States has recalled more than 34,000 pounds of ground beef due to the products possibly connected to a recent Salmonella Dublin outbreak, the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service said on November 15.

Central Valley Meat Co. has made the recall for products shipped to Stater Bros. Stores in California. The affected meat is no longer in stores.

Central Valley Meat is also the first producer connected to the outbreak, which the Centers for Disease and Control and Prevention announced on November 1.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said its investigation continues and more products could be recalled.

Two of the salmonella cases occurred in California. The other states where people have become ill are Colorado (three), Iowa (one), Kansas (two), Oklahoma (one), and Texas (one).

Illnesses in this outbreak are more severe than expected for salmonella, the CDC noted at the time the outbreak was announced. The hospitalisation rate for salmonella poisoning is typically 20%, but in this outbreak, eight of the 10 victims had to be hospitalised, and one person died.

Those are infected with Salmonella Dublin could stay in hospitals longer, experience more bloodstream infections, and are "more likely to die than people infected with other kinds of salmonella.," according to the CDC.

This bacteria is able to resist antibiotics, making treatment challenging.

FSIS said that one illness was linked to beef produced by Central Valley Meat. But it said that this strain of Salmonella Dublin was not antibiotic resistant.

Neither the CDC or FSIS  is recommending that stores stop selling other ground beef or that consumers stop eating it. Handling ground beef carefully and thoroughly cooking it to an internal temperature of 160° F can help prevent food poisoning, the agencies said.

- Consumer Reports