Washington - The biggest U.S. meatpacker recalled a nationwide shipment of ground beef after U.S. Agriculture Department scientists found one sample tainted with a potentially deadly.
IBP Inc's recall of some 282,129 pounds of beef -- a relatively modest amount by meatpacking standards - - comes amid growing efforts by the USDA and federal lawmakers to tighten food safety rules.
Health departments in some 20 states were notified of the contamination, but the USDA considered the recall to be nationwide, said Jacquee Knight, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
There have been no reported illnesses linked to the meat.
The suspect beef was produced by an IBP plant in Joslin, Illinois, on April 14. Although only one sample tested positive for the E.coli 0157:H7 bacteria, the company recalled all the ground beef produced that day and shipped to 50 retail and food-service customers.
The facilities receiving the tainted meat were in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin, the USDA said.
In addition, one military shipment of 215 cases bound for Europe was currently being retrieved, according to the USDA.
"Because the product is fresh meat typically further processed by grocers or restaurants, there is no product code or production lot number for consumers to check on meat in their refrigerators," IBP said in a statement. There was no sign that other batches made that day were tainted, it said.
However, consumers can call the USDA hotline at 800-535-4555 for information about the recall.
The USDA detected the bacteria during a random E.coli test of IBP product, Knight said.
The USDA launched an E.coli 0157:H7 testing program for meat plants and retail stores in 1994. Since the program began, USDA scientists have tested more than 20,000 samples and found 13 contaminated with the virulent bacteria, that can cause bloody diarrhea and kidney failure.
Knight acknowledged it was possible that some of the suspect meat had already been eaten.
"It could have possibly been consumed, but if consumers are cooking it properly there should be no problem," she said.
USDA and industry officials have long urged home cooks to use a thermometer to guarantee that beef reaches at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that kills most bacteria.
"This just reinforces what we've been telling consumers all along: consider all ground beef to be contaminated, and always thoroughly cook it," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, a food safety expert with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
The government has launched several food safety initiatives since last summer's record 25 million pound recall of ground beef by Hudson Foods Co. That shipment was also linked to E.coli 0157:H7, which can be fatal for small children, the elderly and others with weakened immune systems.
More than 9,000 Americans die each year from food-borne illness, and tens of millions are sickened by it.
Industry experts predicted consumers would take the news in stride with little impact on purchases for spring cook-outs.
"I don't think it's going to have much impact. The public has seen all this before," said Dan Vaught, livestock analyst with brokerage A.G. Edwards and Sons.
Rumors of the recall filtered into the Chicago Mercantile Exchange late in the trading day, and cattle prices dropped as traders sold contracts, fearing a drop in demand for beef.
The price of live cattle for June delivery dropped from a three-month high of 69.30 cents a pound earlier in the day to close at 68.40 cents.
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has asked Congress to give him authority to impose civil fines and order a mandatory recall of meat or poultry products suspected of contamination. A recall of meat or poultry is now voluntary but the USDA can withdraw its inspectors, effectively shutting down a plant.
The USDA is also rolling out a program that will eventually require all U.S. meat and poultry plants to identify processing stages where contamination can occur and take steps to prevent it. So far this year, a total of 13 plants have been briefly shut by USDA for failing to use the new system.
Bills are also pending in Congress to combine some units of the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration into a single federal food safety agency.
IBP said it is installing steam cabinets to kill bacteria on the surface of carcasses, in addition to the company's existing policy of vacuuming them to clean the surface.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
P.O. Box 553
Northport, NY 11768
Phone: 631-757-4010
Fax: 631-757-4060
E-mail: sflanagan@sprintmail.com
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