U.S. beef recall expanded, 18 illnesses suspected

[sherlew (Ret)]

Via Yahoo News


Link to article

U.S. beef recall expanded, 18 illnesses suspected


Sun Jun 28, 7:58 am ET

CHICAGO (Reuters) – A Colorado meat company is expanding a recall of beef due to possible contamination by E.coli O157:H7 bacteria after an investigation found 18 illnesses may be linked to the meat, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Sunday.

Greeley, Colorado-based JBS-Swift Beef Co is voluntarily expanding its June 24 recall to include about 380,000 lbs of assorted beef products, USDA said. The original recall was for 41,280 lbs.

The affected beef was produced on April 21 and was distributed nationally and internationally.

E.coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and, in severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors, and persons with weak immune systems are at the most risk.

Consumers with questions can call 1-800-685-6328.

JBS Swift is a unit of Brazilian meat company JBS S.A..

(Reporting by Bob Burgdorfer; editing by Mohammad Zargham)




And they're not the only ones:

www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_027_2009_Release/index.asp


www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-us-beef-recall-090522-ht,0,1380766.story]
(Recalls in Chicago and Pennsylvania.)

This article is pretty interesting as well.

[pickinduck]

We only hear about the meat recalls after the fact that people were made sick or killed.
When all of this started happening years ago I seen a show that compared the meat inspection process in this country with some others and ours sucks. One of the beat was a Scandinavian country. They tested at every phase of the delivery process. They even go into the stores and test the meat on the counters.
In the show one of our meat inspectors said that they only inspect paper work.
I think that the government is responsible for the illness & deaths by not having (or looking for, or changing to) a system that works!

[sherlew (Ret)]

We really do need oversight on this issue. Things like this make me want to move to Scandinavia, or another country that takes these things seriously.

Maybe the government will wise up after the recalls make a big enough dent in our meat exports.

[Tomspy77]

I once saw a program (British I think...BBC?) that described the way American food is sold such as produce and meat, compared to Europe and elsewhere. We are getting the short end of the stick I admit, and trust me, you do not want to know the conditions your 'meat' lives under before it is killed and processed.