There are nagging discrepancies lingering five days after the National Steak and Poultry E. coli recall was first announced.
On December 24th, the Oklahoma meat processor recalled 248,000 pounds of beef products after federal and state officials determined there was an “association” between blade tenderized steaks and E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in six states.
USDA said the recalled meat was sold to restaurants “nationwide,” but not a single restaurant was named.
On Monday National Steak and Poultry said in a press release that the meat was sold primarily to Moe’s Southwest Grill, Carino’s Italian Grill and KRM restaurant locations in Michigan, Colorado, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas and Washington — the same states where the corresponding outbreak is located. At least 19 people are said to be sickened by the potentialy deadly bacteria.
Unless we’re missing something, six states in the greater Midwest and Northwest does not constitute “nationwide” distribution. And why hasn’t USDA published a comprehensive listing of all the retail outlets where the recalled meat was sold? Such disclosure is customary in Class I High Health Risk situations.
As Pritzker Olsen Attorneys and other food safety organizations have stated previously, announcing a recall without thoroughly and promptly identifying the public purveyors of the adulterated product is ludicrous and unsafe. It’s the equivalent of announcing a recall of flammable pajamas without identifying the retailers who sold them.
Consumers cannot protect themselves if they have no information about unsafe products that threaten them. This is a failure of regulation and a violation of food ethics and it raises questions about whether our food safety agencies are more interested in protecting producers of dangerous products or in safeguarding the public’s health.
The discrepancies in this National Steak and Poultry E. coli recall are enough to make you wonder if tons of similar products may have been shipped to even larger restaurant chains than Moe’s, Carino’s and KRM. NSP counts as its customers “some of America’s best known chains.” What about those chains?
Let’s hope the implicated product is limited to the first three companies. But if it comes out later that other restaurant companies purchased adulterated product from NSP, both the companies and the government agencies charged with food safety will have a great deal to explain and justify.
If you have information about this recall and outbreak call a Pritzker Olsen investigator at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Our firm also is accepting cases from those sickened in this outbreak. Contact us by phone or by completing the contact and information form on the side of this website.
We are one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected tens of millions of dollars over the years for victims of food poisoning. The National Steak and Poultry E. coli outbreak was preventable and our firm is actively involved in numerous causes to reduce foodborne disease in the U.S.
