If you recently bought ground beef or have some in your freezer you should know there has been a recall of packages of beef from at least three major grocery chains over E. coli bacterial contamination. Winn-Dixie, Publix, and Kroger announced they are recalling 60,000 pounds of beef sent to the southeastern U.S., including Florida. The meat comes from the National Beef Packaging Co of Dodge City, Kansas. The contamination was found when the Ohio Department of Agriculture tested the product.
Beside Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana all received shipments of the meat, which was repackaged by several distributors and sold nationwide to some Walmart and Sam’s Club stores. There still has not been a formal list of recall products listed on the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) website.
Fortunately, there are no reports of illness, though E. coli can be deadly. This was the particularly virulent strain of E. coli, 0157:H7 which can cause some of the most severe illnesses, according to a report by Rodale. If you cook beef, it is suggested you always use a meat thermometer and cook it to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees.
You may return any meat purchased with a “sell by” date of July 23 through August 14th to the grocery stores for a full refund. The beef could be generic ground beef or in readymade patties. Thirty-six million pounds of ground turkey was recalled earlier this month after the meat was found contaminated with a drug-resistant strain of salmonella bacteria. There have been more than 100 people made ill by consuming that tainted product.
If you or a loved one have been made ill by a food product that has been recalled, you may be able to seek compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Don’t go it alone. The Jacksonville food recall lawyers at Farah & Farah are ready to help and are just a phone call away at 1-800-533-3555.
Sources: http://jacksonville.com/news/national/2011-08-15/story/beef-recalls-affect-publix-winn-dixie
http://www.news4jax.com/health/28868069/detail.html, http://www.rodale.com/ground-beef-recall and http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_064_2011_Release/index.asp
