Washington - U.S. Agriculture Department officials have estimated that the amount of meat recalled by Bil Mar Foods, a division of Sara Lee Corp., could end up being the largest in U.S. history.
Currently, estimates of Bil Mar's recall range as high as 35 million pounds.
A Sara Lee spokeswoman denied that the recall would be as large as 35 million pounds and repeated that the company expects to retrieve 15 million pounds of meat.
Bil Mar announced in December that it was recalling hot dogs and luncheon meat produced at its Zeeland, Mich., plant over sixth months. The meat had been linked by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to an outbreak of listeriosis, a condition cause by deadly Listeria bacteria.
The CDC said that since August, 12 people have died, three women have had miscarriages and at least 79 people in 17 states have been sickened by Listeria bacteria.
According to USDA figures, the Zeeland plant involved in the recall produced 700,000 pounds of hot dogs and packaged meat per day of operation, aides said. But the department is still trying to obtain more information to develop an exact figure for the amount of meat recalled.
“We still do not have a good estimate,” a USDA spokeswoman said.
Listeria bacteria is found in soil and in water, and causes a condition called listeriosis, which is not normally contracted by healthy people.
The most common symptoms are meningitis, which has symptoms including high fever, severe headaches, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can cause miscarriages and stillbirths, and can be fatal for those with weakened immune systems, including infants, the elderly or people with chronic diseases.
Three more companies have announced since Bil Mar that they are recalling meat after listeria was found in their products. Last week, Thorn Apple Valley, a Michigan firm, recalled 30 million pounds of hot dogs as well as luncheon kits produced over a six-month period at its Forrest City, Arkansas, plant.
The Thorn Apple Valley recall is currently considered the biggest in history, surpassing the previous U.S. record of 25 million pounds of tainted ground beef recalled by Hudson Foods Inc in 1997.
No illnesses have been linked to the Thorn Apple Valley products. The products were sold nationwide, as well as in South Korea and Russia, by a variety of companies and packaged under different names.
USDA provided updated information about the brand names the Bil Mar and Thorn Apple Valley meat were sold under.
Last week Bosell Foods, Inc., of Cleveland recalled 350 pounds of sliced ham. No illnesses were reported.
Earlier this month, Oscar Mayer Foods, a unit of Philip Morris Cos, voluntarily recalled two types of luncheon meat after an elderly man in Kansas City, Missouri, became sick after eating the company's deli meat.
Meat Industry Insights News Service
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