But the threat of E. coli in ground beef makes it so if your family is unfortunate enough to buy hamburger meat that was contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 in the slaughtering or grinding process.

E. coli O157:H7  in ground beef is banned by the federal government as a dangerous human pathogen. The law requires inspectors to test for it. But the system is far from fail-proof, which inevitably leads to ground beef E. coli outbreaks over and over that injure, hospitalize and kill victims.

In 2009, according to a review of federal records by food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen, more than 1 million pounds of ground beef and beef cuts intended for grinding were recalled from market by USDA-inspected slaughter plants and processors.

The largest of the 15 recalls covered 545,699 pounds of E. coli-contaminated ground beef produced last fall by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, N.Y. Our law firm is representing a young child who developed E. coli HUS after consuming Fairbank Farms beef.

Multi-state E. coli outbreaks associated with these recalls killed at least three people and sickened at least 80, according to the records. The outbreaks resulted in at least 34 hospitalizations and eight confirmed cases of life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a disease especially dangerous to children that causes kidney failure and many other serious health conditions.

Ground beef E. coli outbreaks don’t have to be large in scale to be deadly.  In Cleveland last year, a 7-year-old girl died in a ground beef E. coli outbreak associated with E. coli-tainted ground beef from Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Ill. The company recalled 95,898 pounds of potentially tainted hamburger meat in May 2009 that had been delivered to restaurants.

Another isolated but disturbing ground beef E. coli outbreak occurred in October at a nature camp in Plymouth, Mass. In that case, more than 20 children and chaperons from a middle school in Rhode Island were sickened by contaminated ground beef traced to a meat packer in Brockton, Mass.

It is axiom in food poisoning circles that raw ground beef is the most common vehicle for E. coli O157 infections. Many times the infections come from ground beef hamburgers cooked on the grill. That’s because temperatures of at least 160 degrees are needed to kill E. coli and the only reliable measurement is a food thermometer.

How does E. coli get into ground beef in the first place?

E. coli O157:H7 colonizes in the intestines of cattle without harming them. At slaughter, the pathogen can contaminate muscle meat, sometimes when an intestine is nicked or during the removal of the animal’s hide. Hides are often smeared with feces. Washes and rinses of the carcasses aren’t 100 percent effective in removing the organisms.

E. coli in ground beef survives refrigerator and freezer temperatures and the bacteria do nothing to spoil the appearance or odor of the meat. Once in ground beef,  E. coli can multiply very slowly at temperatures as low as 44 degrees. The actual infectious dose is unknown, but most scientists believe it takes only a small number of this strain of E. coli to cause serious illness.

Still, ground beef E. coli outbreaks are preventable and ground beef E. coli lawsuits play an important role. Without the threat of E. coli litigation in the U.S. justice system, meat packers, retailers and others in the supply chain would have less incentive to employ the best known practices to prevent these infections.

Pritzker Olsen is a national leader in ground beef E. coli litigation and we have collected millions for victims of E. coli O157:H7 poisoning, including those struck by HUS. To contact a ground beef E. coli lawyer at our firm, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our online contact form.  We provide free case consultations and can explain how you owe us nothing until we win your case.

The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) said the recalled meat is associated with a human infection of E. coli O157:H7.

From the agency’s press release:

This recall was initiated after the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) confirmed a positive ground beef sample for E. coli O157:H7, which it collected during an epidemiological investigation. Working in conjunction with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), FSIS determined that there is an association between the ground beef products and an illness in the state of Massachusetts. FSIS is continuing to work with the MDPH on the investigation.

Anyone with signs or symptoms of foodborne illness should consult a physician. For answers to legal questions about whether an infected person has a claim against the farms involved in this distribution, call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or submit a form on the side of this Web page for a free case consultation.

Our firm is one of the few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we are aware of the long-term health consequences of E. coli and HUS E. coli — a life-threatening condition that occurs most often in young children.  Pritzker Olsen has years of experience and is considered a leader in this complex area of law, collecting millions of dollars for victims of food poisoning.

In the Massachusetts beef farm E. coli recall, the recalled packages from Adams Farm Slaughterhouse all are marked with a packaging date of 11.11.2009. The products also were marked with USDA establishment number EST 5497 in the the USDA seal of inspection.

This is a Class I recall with a corresponding high health risk.

The Price Chopper ground beef you purchased may have been part of a recall of 545,699 pounds of Fairbank Farms ground beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7.  The recalled Fairbank Farms ground beef was sold to Price Chopper grocery stores in  Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York and Vermont.

Raw ground beef products contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 are adulterated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act (FMIA), which means that you and your child may have the right to sue Fairbank Farms and possibly Price Chopper for medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering, emotional distress and other damages.

You and your child did not lose the right to sue for damages because you prepared the ground beef before serving it to your child.  The Price Chopper ground beef you purchased and prepared should not have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

It is important for you and your child that you replace any guilt with a healthy dose of anger and seek justice.

To contact our law firm for a free consultation about a Fairbank Farms lawsuit and a Price Chopper E. coli lawsuit, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit our online consultation form.  We want to hear from you, and we have the experience to help.

We are not paid unless you win.

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The Shaw’s ground beef you purchased may have been part of a recall of over 500,000 pounds of Fairbank Farms ground beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7.  The recalled Fairbank Farms ground beef was sold to Shaw’s grocery stores in  New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island and Vermont.

Under federal law, ground beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 is “adulterated” for civil tort purposes, and you and your child may have the right to sue Fairbank Farms and possibly Shaw’s for medical expenses, lost earnings, pain and suffering, emotional distress and other damages.

You and your child did not lose the right to sue for damages because you prepared the ground beef before serving it to your child.  The Shaw’s ground beef you purchased and prepared should not have been contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

Again, you are not at fault for your child’s illness.  It is important for you and your child that you replace any guilt with a healthy dose of anger and seek justice.

The truth is our food supply is not safe, and terrorists are not at fault.  All along the food supply chain, companies consistently put profit before safety, and the result is people getting severely ill and dying.

To contact our law firm for a free consultation about a Fairbank Farms lawsuit and a Shaw’s lawsuit, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll free), email Attorney Fred Pritzker or submit our online consultation form.  We want to hear from you, and we have the experience to help.

We are not paid unless you win.

Keywords: Shaw’s lawsuit, E. coli ground beef, Fairbank Farms lawsuit, hamburger E. coli, Shaw’s beef recall, Fairbank Farms ground beef recall, Shaws Ecoli, class action lawsuit.

Health officials have found a genetic link between E. coli found in fresh ground beef products distributed by Fairbank Farms, an Ashville, New York, meat distributor and the E. coli that sickened people in  Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and  New Hampshire.  E. coli cases in New York may also be linked to this outbreak.

This is a particularly virulent strain of E. coli O157:H7 that has killed 2 people and sent at least 16 people to the hospital.

Our law firm represents E. coli victims and their families nationwide.  We are currently representing people sickened by E. coli who developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), including a 3-year-old boy.  Contact an E. coli lawyer at our firm for a free consultation regarding a Fairbank Farms lawsuit.

This outbreak follows another unrelated E.coli outbreak involving more than 20 students and adults from Lincoln Middle School in Lincoln, Rhode Island who became ill with gastrointestinal symptoms after eating ground beef at Camp Bournedale, a nature camp in Plymouth, MA. Ground beef collected at the camp was the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 confirmed in two of the children. In response to the Lincoln Middle School E. coli outbreak, a ground beef and beef product recall was initiated by South Shore Meats in Brockton, MA last week as a result of the camp related outbreak. The recalled ground beef was distributed in institutional size packages.

Fairbank Farms Recall

Fairbank Farms is recalling multiple trade brands associated with the multi-state outbreak of E.coli O157:H7. Retailers that may have sold ground beef being recalled in Massachusetts include Shaws, Price Chopper, Trader Joe’s and Wild Harvest.

Trader Joe’s

• 1-pound packages of “TRADER JOE’S BUTCHER SHOP FINE QUALITY MEATS GROUND BEEF 85/15.”
• 1-pound packages of “TRADER JOE’S BUTCHER SHOP FINE QUALITY MEATS GROUND BEEF 80/20.”

NOTE: The sell-by dates for the above two products may be October 6 or 7, 2009.

• 1-pound trays of “TRADER JOE’S BUTCHER SHOP FINE QUALITY MEATS GROUND BEEF PATTIES 96/4 EXTRA LEAN.”
• 1-pound trays of “TRADER JOE’S BUTCHER SHOP FINE QUALITY MEATS GROUND BEEF PATTIES 85/15.”

Price Chopper

• 1- and 2.5-pound trays of “PRICE CHOPPER MEATLOAF & MEATBALL MIX.”
• 1-pound trays of “PRICE CHOPPER EXTRA LEAN GROUND BEEF 96/4.”
• 1-pound trays of “PRICE CHOPPER FRESH GROUND BEEF CHUCK FOR CHILI 80% LEAN 20% FAT.”

Lancaster and Wild Harvest

• 1-pound trays of “LANCASTER BRAND 96/4 EXTRA LEAN GROUND BEEF.”
• 1- and 2-pound trays of “LANCASTER BRAND 90/10 GROUND BEEF.”
• 1-pound trays of “WILD HARVEST NATURAL 85/15 ANGUS GROUND BEEF.”

Shaw’s

• 1- and 2-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND BEEF 93/7.”
• 1-, 2- and 3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND BEEF 80/20.”
• 1- and 3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND BEEF 75/25.”
• 1.3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND SIRLOIN BEEF PATTIES 90/10.”
• 1.3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND ROUND BEEF PATTIES 85/15.”
• 1.3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND BEEF PATTIES 80/20.”
• 3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND BEEF PATTIES FAMILY PACK 80/20.”
• 1-pound trays of “SHAW’S ANGUS GROUND BEEF 85/15.”
• 1-, 2- and 3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND ROUND BEEF 85/15.”
• 1-pound trays of “SHAW’S 90% NATURAL GROUND BEEF.”
• 1-pound trays of “SHAW’S 85% NATURAL GROUND BEEF.”
• 1-, 2- and 3-pound trays of “SHAW’S FRESH GROUND SIRLOIN 90/10.”
• 1-pound trays of “MEATLOAF & MEATBALL MIX.”

BJ’s

• 5-pound trays of “FRESH GROUND BEEF, CONTAINS 15 % FAT” patties.
• 3- and 5-pound trays of “LEAN GROUND BEEF, CONTAINS 7% FAT.”
• 2.5-pound trays of “MEATLOAF & MEATBALL MIX.”

Ford Brothers

• 3-pound trays of “FRESH GROUND BEEF, CONTAINS 20% FAT” patties.

Giant

• 1-pound trays of “GIANT EXTRA LEAN GROUND BEEF 96/4.”
• 1-pound trays of “GIANT MEATLOAF & MEATBALL MIX.”
• 1-pound trays of “GIANT NATURE’S PROMISE GROUND BEEF.”
• 1-pound trays of “GIANT NATURE’S PROMISE GROUND BEEF PATTIES.”

Each package bears the establishment number “EST. 492″ inside the USDA mark of inspection or on the nutrition label. These products were packaged on September 15 and 16, 2009, and may have been labeled at the retail stores with a sell-by date from September 19 through 28, 2009, unless otherwise noted above. Consumers should ask at their point of purchase if the products they have are subject to recall. The products were sent to distribution centers, intended for further distribution to retail establishments in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions.

To fill an information void left by the meat packer and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), national food safety and food poisoning law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is compiling a list of retail grocery chains  involved in the recall. In total, JBS Swift has recalled 421,000 pounds of beef cuts, many of which were used by retailers to make store-packaged ground beef sold on foam trays and wrapped in clear plastic.

Federal health investigators have associated 23 confirmed E. coli  O157:H7   with contaminated JBS Swift beef. The outbreak has included at least 12 hospitalizations and at least two patients suffered a severe complication known as HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome, a type of kidney failure that also attacks a person’s red blood cells. 

For the benefit of all potential victims of the outbreak, the partial and list of retailers who purchased potentially contaminated beef cuts from JBS Swift is found below. Click on the individual retailer’s name for additional information about the recall.. 

If you shop at one of these stores, and you think you may have E. coli O157:H7, go to a doctor immediately.  At the doctor, make sure you ask for a stool sample.  That is the best way to determine if you have E. coli O157:H7.  Then contact an experienced E. coli attorney at Pritzker Olsen by calling 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). For a free case consultation online, please complete one of our electronic forms.

• Bloom and Food Lion Stores in Georgia, South Carolina and Virginia – Beef cuts and ground beef.
• Costco – Steaks, ribs, ground beef.
• Food 4 Less in Illinois and Indiana - Ground beef.
• Fry’s Food and Drug Stores, Arizona – Ground beef.
• Hannaford Bros. Co. – Beef cuts and ground beef.
• H-E-B Grocery Stores - Ground beef, beef briskets, skirt steaks, beef for fajitas
• Kroger – Ground Beef.
• Price Chopper - Ground beef and beef loin bottom sirloin steaks.
• Roundy’s Supermarkets Inc., Pick ‘n Save, Copps, Rainbow stores - Beef cuts and ground beef.
• Smith’s Food and Drug Stores in Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming - Ground beef.
• Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. — Ground beef.
• WinCo Foods LLC stores in Idaho and Oregon - Boneless bottom round oast, steak, carne asada, ground beef.

Medical expenses for those sickened can be immense. Our attorneys are available for a free consultation regarding suing Valley Meats for the following:

• Medical bills
• Lost income
• Pain and suffering
• Emotional distress

This E. coli outbreak prompted a May 21, 2009 hamburger recall. Valley Meats LLC, a Coal Valley, Illinois, establishment, recalled approximately 95,898 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recalled meat had been distributed nationally to restaurants and food service companies. This means that schools may have some of this recalled meat.

Federal, state and local law prohibits the sale of adulterated food. If Valley Meats LLC distributed and sold meat products contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 it means the company violated laws that have been on the books for more than a hundred years and failed to properly test and detect lethal pathogens before the products left its facility.

It also means the restaurants that served this poisoned food similarly violated the law. Whether the meat was adulterated when it entered the restaurant, there is no question and no doubt that with proper cooking and handling, any pathogen in the food could and should have been killed off before it caused harm.

Coincidental to this tragedy, preliminary data published on May 27, 2009 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) indicates that the estimated incidence of E. coli O157:H7 infections did not change significantly when compared with the preceding 3 years. In fact, the percentage of ground beef samples yielding E. coli O157:H7 actually doubled in 2008 compared to 2007. What’s more, none of the targets established by the federal government in its food safety initiative, Healthy People 2010 were met.

To contact attorney Fred Pritzker, please call 1-888-377-8900 or submit our contact form for Fred’s review.