Fight Continues for a Complete List of Restaurant Steak E coli Recipients
National food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys is continuing to fight for the release of a detailed and complete accounting of which restaurants in the United States received beef products from National Steak and Poultry that were potentially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.
The Oklahoma meat processor recently recalled 248,000 pounds of steak, beef tips, medallions, boneless trim and other beef products after health officials determined there was an “association” between blade tenderized steaks and an outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in six states. Days later the company announced that the recalled meat was sold primarily to three companies with restaurants in Michigan, Iowa, Colorado, South Dakota, Kansas and Washington -- the same six states that are home to the steak E. coli outbreak.
The three named recipients are Moe’s Southwest Grill, Carino’s Italian Grill and KRM restaurants, parent company of the 54th Street Grill & Bar chain.
As we have stated previously, announcing a recall without promptly identifying the public purveyors of the adulterated product is ludicrous and unsafe. It’s the equivalent of announcing a recall of flammable pajamas without identifying the brand and where they were sold. Consumers cannot protect themselves if they have no information about the source that threatens their safety. This is a failure of regulation and food ethics and it raises questions about whether our food safety agencies are more interested in protecting producers of unsafe products or safeguarding the public’s health.
But this may be only part of the story. National Steak and Poultry claims the implicated steaks were primarily sold to only three restaurant companies. Yet the company states on its web site that “As beef and poultry marination innovators since 1980, NSP has proved the popularity and profitability of our marinated, pre-portioned beef and poultry – both cooked and fresh frozen – at some of America’s best known chains.”
What about those chains? What about the tons of similar products the company sells to companies far bigger and more familiar than Moe’s, Carino’s and KRM restaurants? Did “some of America’s best known chains” also receive adulterated product from NSP? If so, why haven’t those companies been named?
Let’s hope the implicated product is limited to those three companies. Meanwhile, USDA has yet to publish the retail distribution list for this outbreak and recall -- a disclosure that is customary in major events. Why not this one? An official with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been quoted by the Tulsa World newspaper as saying at least 19 people have been sickened.
If you have information about this outbreak or wish to speak to an E. coli lawyer about a victim's legal rights, call Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete our contact and information form on the side of this web page. We were the first food safety organization to publicly announce that officials were investigating an E. coli outbreak linked to mechanically tenderized steaks and we have been in contact with at least one potential victim.
