Ohio E. coli Outbreak Victim Hires Lawyer
An 18-year-old Ohio woman who nearly died from an E. coli infection she contracted from adulterated steak recalled by National Steak and Poultry has been retained by attorney Fred Pritzker.
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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.According to a press release today by law firm Pritzker Olsen, the victim was hospitalized for weeks and almost died. She was on dialysis for months and now suffers from decreased kidney function and hypertension.
She faces a lifetime of medical problems and medical bills that should have been prevented.
Because of the E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in Ohio and other states, National Steak and Poultry recalled 248,000 pounds of beef products on December 24, 2009.
The recalled beef products, so-called “non-intact beef products,” were mechanically tenderized. This usually involves putting rougher cuts of beef through a machine that utilizes a set of needles or blades which pierce the meat and break down connective tissue.
Unfortunately, this process is also known to push E. coli O157:H7 on the surface of the raw meat into its center (so-called “translocation”). If the meat is then served rare or medium rare, its center is not heated sufficiently to kill off the E. coli.
According to Fred Pritzker, this was at least the fourth E. coli O157:H7 outbreak associated with mechanically tenderized beef.
“Meat companies and restaurants don’t warn consumers about mechanical tenderization and the dangers that go with it,” Pritzker said. “They don’t want consumers to be able to make informed choices because they’re afraid it will hurt sales.”
According to Pritzker, a small number of changes could go a long way to prevent future outbreaks:
- 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.
Food safety attorney Fred Pritzker represents E. coli victims nationwide. He can be reached at 1-888-377-8900 (TOLL FREE) or by completing the contact form on the side of this Web page. His offices are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
