Valley Meat E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak in CA
A California ground beef E. coli outbreak is related to Valley Meat Company’s hamburger E. coli 0157:H7 recall of 1 million pounds of frozen beef patties and bulk ground beef, according to a news release issued today by the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS).
FSIS said the meat was sold primarily to retailers and foodservice distributors in California, Texas, Oregon, Arizona and internationally from October 2, 2009, to January 12, 2010. FSIS and law firm Pritzker Olsen, which represents victims of ground beef E. coli outbreaks, are concerned that some product may still be in storage in consumers’ freezers, which could lead to more illnesses.
Pritzker Olsen is investigating this outbreak and strongly urges consumers to check their freezers for any of the recalled Valley Meats hamburger patties or bulk ground beef. You may contact our firm at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) for instructions on what to do if you find any in order to help the investigation.
Click here to see the complete FSIS recall list. All products subject to recall bear the USDA establishment number “8268″ inside the USDA mark of inspection.
Valley Meat Ground Beef E. coli Investigation
The federal agency in charge of food safety in meat products reported today that one million pounds of ground beef patties and bulk ground beef produced late last year by Valley Meat Co. of Modesto, California, may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly human pathogen.
FSIS became aware of the problem on July 15 when the agency was notified by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) of a small E. coli O157:H7 cluster of illnesses with a rare strain as determined by molecular subtyping, or DNA fingerprinting. A total of six patients with illness onset dates between April 8 and June 18 were reported at that time.
Upon further review, the California state health agency added another patient to the outbreak case count from February, bringing the count to seven. FSIS is continuing to work with the CDPH and the company on the investigation.
Anyone with signs or symptoms of E. coli infection should contact a health care provider. If you or a loved one is a victim of this outbreak, your legal questions will be answered by Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or you may contact us online via the contact for on the side of this Web page.
Our firm has won many ground beef E coli lawsuits for people hospitalized from E. coli O157:H7 infection, including patients who develop hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) — related conditions in which toxins emitted by the pathogen attack a person’s red blood cells and cause life-threatening injury to the kidney, heart, brain and central nervous system.
Children under 5, especially, are at risk for developing HUS, the leading cause of kidney failure in children worldwide.
Tags: E. coli O157:H7, Ground Beef Recall, Hamburger E. coli, Valley Meat Company E coli O157
