E. Coli Steak Dangers in Tenderized Beef
In 1999, the USDA announced that non-intact cuts of beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 were to be considered adulterated and since that time there have been outbreaks and studies exposing the fact that steaks tenderized with blades and/or injected with brine or marinade can make them vehicles for E. coli infection.
Now national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen is investigating a possible multi-state outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 involving meat injected with tenderizing ingredients and served at large restaurant chains in Minnesota and elsewhere.
Although E. coli steak outbreaks from mechanically tenderized and flavored beef cuts have occasionally been reported, most people think that unlike hamburger a steak should be free of pathogenic bacteria and that cooking just the surface should be adequate to destory any contamination that might be present. However, the steaks implicated in the current restaurant E. coli outbreak had their surfaces breached by processes that could drive bacteria into the centers.
Since many consumers enjoy steak that is not well done, the pathogens can survive cooking and be ingested. According to a 2003 study cited by a Colorado State University report, about 94 percent of surveyed meat processors use similar methods to “mechanically tenderize” meat.
In 2005, a group of state and federal epidemiologists wrote a report about a 2003 steak E. coli outbreak that sickened 12 people in Minnesota, Michigan, Kansas, Iowa and North Dakota. All victims had consumed steaks that had been blade tenderized and injected with marinade at the same Illinois plant. The meat was sold door-to-door in frozen, vacuum packed wrapping. Three of the outbreak patients were hospitalized, including one 52-year-old man who was treated 25 days for hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) and was discharged with "residual neurological deficits.''
The report warned that the restaurant industry should be aware of the potential increased risk posed by undercooked non-intact steaks. In late 2004, the Conference for Food Protection adopted a recommendation that the USDA and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration develop guidelines for restaurants describing the safe cooking of blade-tenderized steaks.
If you or a loved one have suffered damages from this potential E. coli O157:H7 restaurant steak outbreak or know anything about it, please contact the E. coli lawyers at Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact and information form on the side of this web page. We represent food poisoning victims in all corners of the United States and have recovered millions for our clients. We are one of the few law firms in the country practicing extensively in this area of litigation and we are actively involved in prevention efforts to boost food safety.
