USDA Probes Winco Hamburger E. coli
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has launched an E. coli O157:H7 investigation into the suppliers of ground beef to WinCo Foods, a supermarket chain with stores in California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and Utah.
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The probe, assisted by the California Department of Public Health, is in connection with a WinCo hamburger E. coli problem. The company originally recalled ground beef sold from April 3-9 at is Modesto, California, store. An independent lab had found E. coli contamination in two samples of the meat.
Preliminary findings in the WinCo E. coli investigation prompted a widening of the recall to include fresh hamburger with sale dates of March 28-April 9.
USDA spokesman Neil Gaffney told the Modesto Bee newspaper that the agency is investigating the suppliers of the ground beef and attempting to determine how the contamination occurred and the point of contamination.
"We are also trying to determine all potentially infected products," he said.
No confirmed illnesses have yet been reported, but health officials are urging any consumers of recalled WinCo hamburger to immediately see a physician if they have suffered E. coli poisoning symptoms.
For answers to legal questions about an E. coli illness, call national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen at 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or complete the contact form on the side of this Web page. We represent victims of food poisoning in virtually all major E. coli outbreaks, including families of children who suffer hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) or an associated disease in adults known as thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura ((TTP).
