Buffalo E. coli Lawsuit Highlights Testing Issue
Rocky Mountain Natural Meats buffalo E. coli recall and outbreak is a wakeup call for consumers who assume bison meat is safer than conventional beef and other meats.
A 53-year-old woman from Lakewood, Colorado, has filed a buffalo E. coli lawsuit against the Rocky Mountain Natural Meats after eating contaminated bison and developing an E. coli O157:H7 infection that caused her to be hospitalized. She is represented by law firm Pritzker Olsen. The same firm represents a man from Baltimore, Maryland, who is one of seven people identified by health officials as being infected by the same strain of E. coli. Five are in Colorado and one is in New York.
Attorney Fred Pritzker, founder and president of the law firm, said that in the past and currently, bison meat has not been subject to the same E. coli O157:H7 testing requirements as ground beef. Many people assume that bison meat is safer than beef, but that reputation needs to be re-examined. Interestingly, the bison industry recognized this concern over two years ago.
The National Bison Association has noted:
Under our current status… bison are not required to undergo testing for E. coli O157:H7. Most of the commercial-scale USDA bison processors do conduct their own testing on a voluntary basis, and many of those systems exceed the standards required by USDA. However, the designation as a non-amenable species also allows producers to sell meat to the general public without undergoing some of the standard antimicrobial testing required by other commodities.
The statement from the bison trade group went on to say that any product recall based upon test results identifying the presence of E. coli O157:H7 would have a negative impact for the overall bison industry. However, the impact of an incident in which a consumer became ill from consuming meat that did not have to undergo testing for E. coli O157H7 could be even more devastating.
“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is not the basis for instilling consumer confidence in the integrity of our industry,” the statement said.
In response to the outbreak linked to Rocky Mountain Natural Meats, the bison association is telling its members to emphasize that the only products subject to recall were produced by the Colorado company. All recalled packages are marked with USDA establishment number “EST. 20247”.
- 16-ounce packages of “GREAT RANGE BRAND ALL NATURAL GROUND BISON.” These products have a “sell or freeze by” date of June 21, June 22 or June 24, 2010.
- 16-ounce packages of “NATURE’S RANCHER GROUND BUFFALO.” These products have a “sell or freeze by” date of June 22, 2010.
- 16-ounce packages of “THE BUFFALO GUYS ALL NATURAL GROUND BUFFALO 90% LEAN.” These products have a lot number of 0147.
- 12-ounce packages of “GREAT RANGE BRAND ALL NATURAL BISON STEAK MEDALLIONS.” These products have a “sell or freeze by” date of June 23 and 24, 2010
- 12-ounce packages of “GREAT RANGE BRAND ALL NATURAL BISON SIRLOIN STEAKS.” These products have a “sell or freeze by” date of June 20, June 23 and 24, 2010
- 15-pound boxes of “ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATURAL MEATS, INC. BISON 10 OZ SIRLOIN STEAK.” These products went to restaurants and bear a Julian Code of 0141.
