E. coli Ground Beef Recall in Massachusetts
Ground beef sold at nine BJ’s stores in Massachusetts is included in the latest Cargill E. coli ground beef recall. The tainted meat has been associated with two confirmed E. coli 026 infections in Maine and one in New York.
The meat sold at BJ’s Wholesale Club stores in eight states is marked “90 percent lean,” and was sold between June 16 and June 30, with a “use by” date of July 1. There is concern at law firm PritzkerOlsen, P.A., and elsewhere that more illnesses could occur if people pull the product from their home freezers without realizing it may contain deadly pathogens.
USDA announced August 28 a total of 8,500 pounds of beef was recalled from Pennsylvania-based Cargill Meat Solutions because it may be contaminated with E. coli 026, a shiga toxin-producing type of E. coli. The beef was shipped in bulk form and repackaged for sale in BJ’s meat cases in eight northeastern and eastern states. It bears USDA establishment number EST 9400 inside the USDA mark of inspection.
In Massachusetts, BJ’s spokeswoman Kelly McFalls said the meat was sold in nine BJ’s stores: Attleboro, Auburn, Leominster, Plymouth, Revere, Stoneham, Taunton, Waltham and Weymouth. Stores in Framingham and Westboro did not sell the meat, she said.
McFalls told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that letters will be sent to BJ’s customers who bought the recalled beef.
The beef was also sold at BJ’s clubs in Maine, New York, Connecticut, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Virginia.
Escherichia coli, commonly known as E. coli, is a bacterium commonly found in the lower intestines of cattle. Most reported outbreaks are caused by contaminated food and water and eating ground beef is a well-established mode of transmission of the bacteria. Healthy adults sometimes endure bloody diarrhea, painful stomach cramps and other symptoms of infection without treatment, but E. coli 026 and other shiga toxin-producing types can cause death and severe illness in young children, older adults and other people with weakened or under-developed immune systems.
In five to 15 percent of cases, infected individuals develop life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Children under 5 years old are especially susceptible to HUS, which can lead to kidney failure, anemia, heart problems, brain damage and central nervous system disorders, including paralysis.
If you or a loved one has fallen ill after eating hamburger from BJ’s, contact your physician immediately for medical care. For answers to legal questions about a possible BJ’s ground beef lawsuit, contact PritzkerOlsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page.
Our firm is one of the few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have won millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning, including E. coli in hamburger.
