Over 160,000 pounds of ground beef sold across US has been recalled after testing positive for E. Coli.
Wolverine Packing Co., a Detroit, Michigan establishment, is pulling approximately 167,277 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with the deadly bacteria.
The fresh products have a ‘use by’ date of 11/14/2024 and the frozen products are labeled with production date 10/22/24.
The beef was shipped to restaurants nationwide.
To date, 17 case-patients have been identified in one state, Minnesota, with illness onset dates ranging from November 2 to November 10. Two people have been hospitalized.
Ex-USDA food chief Dr Darin Detwiler told DailyMail.com that ‘tragically, this is not the first time Wolverine Packaging Co. has been involved in such a recall.’
The company faced a similar issue in 2014 with the recall of some 1.8 million pounds of ground beef.
This time around, the products subject to recall bear establishment number ‘EST. 2574B’ inside the USDA mark of inspection.
The problem was discovered when the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) was notified by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture about a group of people who had fallen ill after consuming ground beef.
FSIS was notified of illnesses on November 13, 2024, and working in conjunction with Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health, FSIS determined that there was a link between the ground beef products from Wolverine Packing Co. and this illness cluster.
On November 20, 2024, a ground beef sample collected by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture as part of an outbreak investigation tested positive for E. coli O157.
To date, 15 case-patients have been identified in one state with illness onset dates ranging from November 2, 2024, to November 10, 2024.
FSIS continues to work with the Minnesota Departments of Agriculture and Health on this investigation.
Anyone concerned about an illness have been told to contact a healthcare provider.
The E. coli O157:H7 strain that led to the Wolverine Packing Co. outbreak is said to cause serious illness and was linked to Jack in the Box’s 1993 incident, which killed four children.
E. coli O157:H7 can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps for up to eight days after exposure.
While most people recover within a week, some develop a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS).
This condition can occur among persons of any age but is most common in children under five-years old and older adults.
It is marked by easy bruising, pallor, and decreased urine output and those who experience any of these symptoms have been told to seek emergency medical care immediately.
FSIS is concerned that some product may be in restaurant refrigerators or freezers.
Restaurants are urged not to serve these products and (FSIS) says these products ‘should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase’.
FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers.
FSIS advises all consumers to safely prepare their raw meat products, including fresh and frozen, and only consume ground beef that has been cooked to a temperature of 160 F.
The only way to confirm that ground beef is cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer that measures internal temperature.
