Food Poisoning Law Blog : Food Poisoning Lawyer & Attorney : PritzkerLaw : Food Safety, Outbreaks & Recalls

 The Tyson ground beef E. coli recall includes hamburger sold at Kroger, Save-A-Lot and Supervalu stores in Ohio, the state where four children in one family were stricken earlier this month with E. coli O157:H7 infection.

One of those children, from Butler County, was hospitalized and the public health investigation that ensued collected leftover ground beef from the patients’ home. The meat tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 at the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s laboratory. That finding prompted this week's recall by Tyson of 65 tons of ground beef.

PritzkerOlsen, P.A., a national food safety law firm, is providing free case consultations to all victims of this outbreak at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or leave your contact information and a lawyer will call you.

The products subject to recall have a "BEST BEFORE OR FREEZE BY" date of "SEP 12 2011" and the establishment number "245D" ink jetted along the package seam. What follows is a nationwide listing of the stores where the recalled ground beef was distributed: 

Nationwide, State-Wide, or Area-Wide Distribution

Food 4 Less Stores in IL and IN

Food Lion Stores in FL, GA, NC, SC, VA, WV

Harvey's Stores in FL, GA, SC

Jay-C Food stores in IN

Kroger Stores in AR, IL, IN, KY, MI, MS, MO, OH, TN

Payless Super Market Stores in IN

Reid's Stores in SC

Ruler Food Stores in IN

Save-A-Lot Stores East of the Rocky Mountains

Scott's Stores in IN

Supervalu Stores Nationwide

Delaware

Dover AFB in Dover Delaware

Illinois

Hilander, 2206 Barnes Blvd, Rockford IL-Illinois

Hilander, 3134 11th Street, Rockford IL-Illinois

Hilander, 2514 S. Alpine Rd., Rockford IL-Illinois

Hilander, 2601 N. Mulford Rd., Rockford IL-Illinois

Hilander, 3710 N. Main St., Rockford, IL-Illinois

Hilander, 1715 Rural St., Rockford IL-Illinois

Hilander, 4860 Hononegah Rd., Roscoe IL-Illinois

Indiana

Payless Super Market, 1845 N. Scatterfield Rd., Anderson IN-Indiana

Payless Super Market, 1900 Applewood Center Dr., Anderson IN-Indiana

Payless Super Market, 3050 Meridian, Anderson IN-Indiana

Ruler Food Store, 624 E. 16th St.,Bedford IN-Indiana

Ruler Food Store, 360 E. Main St., Bloomfield IN-Indiana

Owen's, 1245 S. Jefferson, Huntington IN-Indiana

Owen's,  2718 Guilford, Huntington IN-Indiana

Payless Super Market, 65 Beck Lane, Lafayette IN-Indiana

Payless Super Market, 2513 Maple Point Dr., Lafayette IN-Indiana

Owen's, 903 Lincolnway S., Ligonier IN-Indiana

Ruler Food Store, 600 West Broadway St., Loogootee IN-Indiana

Ruler Food Store, 120 E. 2nd St., Madison IN-Indiana

Ruler Food Store, 1307 West Main St., Mitchell IN-Indiana

Ruler Food Store, 1503 West Broadway, Princeton IN-Indiana

Ruler Food Store, 805 S. Main St., Salem IN-Indiana

Owen's, 302 W. Market, Warsaw IN-Indiana

Owen's, 2211 E Center St., Warsaw IN-Indiana

Payless Super Market, 1032 Sagamore Pkwy West, West Lafayette IN-Indiana

North Carolina

Bottom Dollar, 1327 E. Dixie Drive, Asheboro NC-North Carolina

Bottom Dollar, 1810 Hwy 64-70 S.E., Hickory NC-North Carolina

Bottom Dollar, 3136 E. Kivett Drive, High Point NC-North Carolina

Bottom Dollar, 235 East Plaza Drive, Mooresville NC-North Carolina

Bottom Dollar, 1136 W. Pine Street, Mount Airy NC-North Carolina 

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An Ohio E. coli outbreak has prompted a ground beef recall by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc. as state and federal health experts investigate a possible connection. The E. coli O157:H7 illnesses are located in Butler County, an area north of Cincinnati centered in Hamilton, Ohio.

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service published the Tyson recall notice (see below) for 131,300 pounds of ground beef after the agency was notified of the Ohio outbreak, which has illness onset dates rangining from September 8 through September 11. The Class I High Health Risk recall did not say how many people have been sickened or whether the outbreak involves cases of HUS, or hemolytic uremic syndrome.

National E. coli lawyers at PritzkerOlsen, P.A., also are investigating this ground beef outbreak, providing free consultation for victims interested in an Ohio E. coli lawsuit at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free). Our law firm is one of the very few in the country practicing extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation and we have collected tens of millions of dollars for E. coli victims around the country.

USDA said the on-going investigation involved collecting leftover ground beef from the "patients’ home" on Sept. 19. The sample tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 by the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s laboratory.

The recall involves certain Kroger-brand ground beef, Butcher's Brand ground beef and generic label ground beef shipped to distribution centers in Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina,  Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Texas and Wisconsin. The potentially contaminated ground beef was produced by Tyson in Emporia, Kansas.

September 2011 Tyson ground beef E. coli O157:H7 recall:

• 5-pound chubs of Kroger-brand "GROUND BEEF 73% LEAN - 27% FAT," packed in 40-pound cases containing eight chubs. Cases bear an identifying product code of "D-0211 QW." These products were produced on Aug. 23, 2011 and were shipped to distribution centers in Ind. and Tenn. for retail sale.
• 3-pound chubs of Butcher’s Brand "GROUND BEEF 73% LEAN - 27% FAT," packed in 36-pound cases each containing 12 chubs. Cases bear an identifying product code of "D-0211 LWIF." These products were produced on Aug. 23, 2011 and were shipped to distribution centers in N.C. and S.C. for retail sale.
• 3-pound chubs of a generic label "GROUND BEEF 73% LEAN - 27% FAT," packed in 36-pound cases each containing 12 chubs. Cases bear an identifying product code of "D-0211 LWI." These products were produced on Aug. 23, 2011 and were shipped to distribution centers in Del., Fla., Ga., Md., Ill., Ind., Mo., N.Y., Ohio, Tenn., Texas and Wis. for retail sale.

The products subject to recall have a "BEST BEFORE OR FREEZE BY" date of "SEP 12 2011" and the establishment number "245D" ink jetted along the package seam.

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An 18-year-old woman with E. coli HUS (hemolytic uremic syndrome) has retained Attorney Fred Pritzker to represent her as she seeks compensation from Freshway Foods of Sidney, Oklahoma. Our client, a student at Daemen College in Amherst, New York, is one of 23 people who have confirmed cases of E. coli O145 linked to Freshway Foods romaine lettuce.

Two students in Wappinger Falls, New York (a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old) have also contracted E. coli HUS in the Freshway Foods lettuce food poisoning outbreak.  The students ate romaine lettuce that had been supplied to the school district by Freshway Foods.

HUS is a life-threatening complication of an E. coli O145 infection that can cause kidney failure, stroke, heart attack, seizures, coma, pancreatitis and other serious health problems.  For a free consultation with attorney Fred Pritzker, please call 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or submit our free consultation form.

The latest information from the CDC is as follows:

The number of ill persons identified in each state with this strain is: MI (10 confirmed and 3 probable), NY (4 confirmed and 3 probable), OH (8 confirmed and 1 probable), and TN (1 confirmed).

Among the confirmed and probable cases with reported dates available, illnesses began between April 10, 2010 and April 26, 2010. Infected individuals range in age from 13 years old to 31 years old and the median age is 19 years. Sixty-six percent of patients are male.

Among the 30 patients with available information, 12 (40%) were hospitalized. Three patients have developed a type of kidney failure known as hemolytic-uremic syndrome, or HUS. No deaths have been reported.

Multiple lines of evidence have implicated shredded romaine lettuce from one processing facility as a source of infection in this outbreak. This evidence includes the identification of the outbreak strain of E. coli O145 from an unopened package of shredded romaine lettuce obtained at an institution that received product from the processing facility linked to the outbreak. A case-control study in Michigan found a significant association between illness and consumption of romaine lettuce processed at the same facility that processed lettuce consumed by ill persons in New York, Ohio and Tennessee.

The lettuce processing company (Freshway Foods) has issued a recall of lettuce produced at their facility as a result of the evidence obtained to date.  An additional recall was issued by a separate company that received lettuce from the same farm as the processing company linked to the outbreak.

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The young woman from Ashtabula, Ohio, suffered E. coli O157:H7 poisoning and hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) matched by public health investigation to an outbreak late last year. The illnesses were associated with National Steak and Poultry of Owasso, Oklahoma.

• Requiring producers to use microbiological decontamination technologies on meat products before mechanical tenderization.
• Requiring labeling changes that alert consumers to the existence of and dangers associated with mechanical tenderization.
• Creating and mandating public outreach programs alerting consumers to this practice.

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State, local and federal health authorities are getting close to producing a questionnaire in an attempt to pinpoint the food causing a three-state outbreak of E. coli O145 in central Ohio; Ann Arbor, Michigan; and Erie County, New York.

An updated message from Columbus Public Health says the epidemiological questionnaire will compare people who were sickened with others who ate at the same places and did not get sick.

"This type of study can make for strong evidence as to what made people sick, even if laboratory tests of food samples do not reveal anything. The investigation is expected to take several weeks,'' the agency said.

In Ohio, no new E. coli O145 cases have been found since April 20 so they believe people may have eaten the tainted food sometime between April 1 and April 20. Investigators do not believe all of the cases are related to one particular restaurant or place, but a group of places that may have all received food from the same distributor.

One of the common denominators in the Ohio, Michigan, New York E. coli outbreak is that university students have been among the victims at Ohio State University, University of Michigan and Daemen College in Amherst, New York.

Columbus Public Health said in its latest message on the outbreak that investigators are actively seeking to talk to anyone in the areas of the outbreak who became sick after April 1 with E. coli symptoms of diarrhea and severe stomach cramping.

And while officials previously have only described the bacteria as non-O157 E. coli, they now have confirmed it is E. coli O145 -- one of six non-O157 types that emit Shiga toxin.

Together in the three states, around 60 cases of illness are considered to be part of the outbreak.

As the public investigation continues, law firm Pritzker Olsen is building its own files on the outbreak and is interested in talking to victims. We are in touch with some of the investigating agencies and also believe a common foodservice distributor or foodservice item is behind the outbreak.

To receive a free case consultation, call an E. coli lawyer at our firm at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page. 

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The common demoninator in the multi-state outbreak of E. coli O145 in Ohio, Michigan and New York is university students.

Nearly 50 people have confirmed or suspected illnesses that began to occur in early- to mid-April around the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and Ohio State University in Columbus. New York has one confirmed E. coli O145 illness matching the outbreak strain and 11 other suspected cases.

Food safety microbiologist Phyllis Entis is reporting that the New York outbreak has a connection to Daemen College, a private nonsectarian liberal arts school in Amherst, New York, near Buffalo.

A university E. coli outbreak obviously points to a shared foodservice supplier or shared foodservice item, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has not announced a cause for the outbreak. Various food samples are being tested, but it is not known if meat, leafy green vegetables or some processed food item is contaminated with the bacteria.

National food safety law firm Pritker Olsen is actively investigating this outbreak. It is not too early to contact anE. coli lawyer at our law firm for a free consultation regarding your legal rights: 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or complete the online consultation form on the side of this Web page. We are not paid unless you win.

Our firm has been in contact with investigating agencies and we have years of experience protecting the legal rights of victims of food poisoning. E. coli O147 is a cousin to the better known pathogen E. coli O157:H7 and its is equally dangerous in terms of emitting a toxin that can wreak havoc once consumed by humans.

If you or a loved one has had recent symptoms of bloody diarrhea, painful stomach cramps and fever, contact a physician immediately. In five to 15 percent of cases, infections develop into life-threatening hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)  with effects ranging from kidney failure to brain damage and paralysis. 

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Health officials have named the two Cleveland area restaurants that were investigated as part of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak , that hospitalized two people, sickened a third and may be linked to the death of a 7-year-old Cleveland girl.

Matt Carroll, director of the Cleveland Department of Public Health, told the Akron Beacon Journal newspaper that the two eateries investigated by the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service were the VFW Hall in North Olmsted and Deekers Side Tracks, a sports bar and dance club in Mentor.

The newspaper said health officials removed beef burgers from the two establishments, prompting Thursday's recall of 48 tons of frozen hamburger patties and refrigerated ground beef by Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Ill.

The company has said its products were sold to restaurants and other foodservice accounts, not retail stores. The recalled meat, produced March 10, was sold to distributors in 11 states. The E. coli exposures happened in April. All of the hamburger meat recalled was sold in 10-pound, 20-pound and 40-pound packages stamped with USDA Establishment Number 5712.

Test results are expected next week to determine if the 7-year-old girl who died Sunday of an E. coli O157:H7 was sickened by the same strain of the micro-organism as the three others who were made ill. The two who were hospitalized have recovered from their original symptoms.

The little girl who died was a student at Westpark Comunity Elementary School in Cleveland. School Principal Macey Baldizzi said in a statement Friday, "I want to thank all our Westpark Community Elementary families for supporting the school and being so very respectful of our one family during their time of loss. The family deserves privacy, and they deserve the time to grieve."

National food poisoning law firmPritzker Olsen Attorney issued a pair of press releases Friday calling for Congress to act on a proposed food safety bill that would improve meat inspection and strengthen regulations to help keep deadly pathogens out of the U.S. food supply. The firm also called on Valley Meats LLC and any restaurants involved in the outbreak to pay medical bills, lost wages and other expenses for families who have suffered.

Pritzker Olsen has years of experience representing E. coli victims and their families. The firm has recovered millions of dollars for its food poisoning clients and is dedicated to educating the public about food safety issues. For more information, call the firm to speak to an E. coli lawyer at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or write to us online for a free case consultation. 

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An E. coli outbreak associated with ground beef has sickened people in Illinois, Ohio and Pennsylvania and may have killed a seven-year-old girl in Cleveland, Ohio. One day after the outbreak was announced, national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys issued a press release calling on the meat processor and any restaurants involved in the outbreak to agree to pay medical bills and lost wages for victims and their families.

PRESS RELEASE

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Business Wire) May 22, 2009 -- According to the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service, 96,000 pounds of frozen hamburger patties and refrigerated ground beef have been recalled by Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Illinois, in association with an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7  Illnesses have been reported in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois, and the ground beef in question was distributed nationwide after it was produced March 10.

The Ohio Department of Health has stated that three E. coli O157:H7 infections have been confirmed, and Cleveland's health director has said a fourth case involving the E. coli death of a 7-year-old girl is being investigated as possibly related. At least two restaurants in Ohio's Cuyahoga County also are being investigated as possibly linked to the outbreak, officials have said.

"We are calling on Valley Meats and any restaurants involved in the outbreak to act responsibly and pay for the medical expenses and lost wages of those who contracted E. coli infections,'' said Fred Pritzker, founder and president of national food poisoning and food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys."While other legal issues, including compensation for pain and suffering, are pending. The families deserve that peace of mind.''

Pritzker also stated that he believes restaurants should do more to ensure that meat suppliers are following state of the art techniques to keep deadly pathogens out of the food supply. "It is really up to restaurants to demand that the meat they prepare for customers is produced under the safest possible conditions," Pritzker said. "Restaurants have the market power to change dangerous practices."

Pritzker Olsen is involved in practically all major outbreaks of foodborne illness and the firm has recovered millions of dollars for the families and victims of E. coli and related Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, or HUS. Currently, Fred Pritzker is representing the families of three women who died of Salmonella poisoning in Minnesota and Ohio in the outbreak caused late last year by Peanut Corp. of America.

"These women and their families have suffered immeasurably. No amount of money could fully compensate them for their loss, but pursuing the companies responsible is the best way of helping prevent anyone else from going through what they did,'' Pritzker said.

Pritzker Olsen is one of the few law firms in the United States that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. Attorneys at the firm have been quoted as experts in this area by The Associated Press, The New York Times, CNN, CBS News, Fox News and many regional newspapers and broadcast stations. For more information, visit http://www.pritzkerlaw.com/section-foodborne-illness/ecoli/valley-meats-ground-beef-recall-lawsuit.html  or contact Fred Pritzker at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free).  Pritzker Olsen has offices at Plaza VII, Suite 2950, 45 South Seventh Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402 

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