The New England ground beef E. coli outbreak has claimed a life in New Hampshire, where at least two other residents have suffered E. coli O157:H7 infections from contaminated ground beef produced by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, New York.1
The Fairbank Farms ground beef outbreak has sickened people in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine and New Hampshire. And the impact could be wider. The company’s Halloween recall of 545,699 pounds of potentially adulterated hamburger meat listed eight states where the beef was distributed: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Virginia, North Carolina, Massachusetts, Maryland and Connecticut.
Retailers that carried the ground beef — all sold under various store labels marked with USDA establishment number EST 492 — were Trader Joe’s, Shaws Supermarkets, ACME, Price Chopper, Giant Food Stores, BJ’s Wholesale Club/Burris and Ford Brothers. Click here and scroll down for the company’s most recent recall list.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is involved in the investigation of the outbreak, but so far the agency hasn’t commented on how many illnesses or deaths may have been caused by it. The E. coli ground beef was produced between September 14 and 16 and most sell-by dates were in the range of September 19-28. Given the late date of the recall, any unused product would be in residential freezers, where the bacteria does not die.
Anyone with symptoms of food poisoning, including bloody diarrhea, should see a physician immediately. To receive legal information about this outbreak, call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). An E. coli attorney at our firm will listen to your information and provide you with a free case consultation regarding a Fairbank Farms lawsuit. If you prefer online communication, please complete our contact and information form.
Pritzker Olsen is involved on behalf of victims in practically every major E. Coli O157:H7 outbreak in the United States. As such, we have collected tens of milions of dollars for victims of food poisoning. Rhode Island E. coli attorney David Szerlag is a member of our staff and lawyers Fred Pritzker and Elliot Olsen are known nationally for their expertise in food poisoning. This year, both Pritzker and Olsen taught E. coli prevention seminars at national food industry conventions. Helping to prevent foodborne illness is an important part of our the mission.
1Boston Globe, Nov. 1, 2009
