SIGHTINGS


 
Half-Million Pounds of Beef
Recalled - E. Coli
Contamination Suspected
11-5-98


OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - IBP on Wednesday announced the recall of more than a half-million pounds of beef in 33 states after the meat was found to possibly contain the E. coli bacteria.
 
The company said a sample of ground beef produced Oct. 22 at IBP's Dakota City plant was found to possibly be tainted with E. coli 0157:H7, a rare and often dangerous strain. No illnesses had been reported to IBP officials as a result of the meat, IBP spokesman Gary Mickelson said.
 
Complications associated with the 0157:H7 strain can lead to kidney failure, severe anemia, clotting problems and, in some cases, death.
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture was testing the meat, Mickelson said. Though the USDA review was not complete, the company decided late Wednesday afternoon to recall 556,226 pounds of meat, Mickelson said.
 
Mickelson refused to specify what specific restaurants or distributors were affected. He said 71 retail, food service and distribution customers bought the fine and coarsely ground beef, sold in vacuum-packaged tubes.
 
The recall does not include any prepackaged fresh or frozen beef patties.
 
IBP said the bacteria presented no danger to consumers as long as the meat was thoroughly cooked.
 
Nebraska has been plagued with beef recalls in the last 15 months, including the Hudson Foods recall of some 25 million pounds of E. coli-tainted beef - believed to be the nation's largest beef recall.
 
IBP took over the former Hudson Foods plant in Columbus, Neb., last year. Forty-thousand pounds of IBP beef were returned last October after South Korean officials said it was contaminated with E. coli.
 
Also last year, the now-defunct BeefAmerica plant in Norfolk recalled more than 600,000 pounds of meat containing E. coli.
 
The affected states are: Alabama, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin.





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