Ground Beef Recall: Tainted Meat Can Sicken and Kill

Over the past few weeks America has gone through a major produce scare due to a massive egg recall. Just when you may have thought authorities finally have that under control, meat has been found to be contaminated. Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. just announced it is recalling 8,500 pounds of ground beef. The fear is that the meat may be contaminated with E. coli, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The USDA said that the ground beef in question was repackaged for sale at retail locations around the country, including 26 BJ’s Wholesale Clubs. The packages of the recalled meat each contained three 14-pound chubs and had a use or freeze by date of July 1, 2010.

Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. is located in Wyalusing, Pa. There have been three reports of illnesses in Maine and New York. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) became aware of the problem on Aug. 5, 2010, after being notified by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources of an E. coli O26 cluster of illnesses. They were later contacted by the New York State Department of Health, and New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets regarding a rare, indistinguishable pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern on meat samples conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Illness onset dates range from June 24, 2010, through July 16, 2010.

E. coli O26 is a bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. People who are very young and seniors are most vulnerable as well as individuals with weakened or compromised immune systems.

–torrance stephens, ph.d.