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Health Department Removes Tainted Meat from Store Shelves

Oct. 1, 2007 — The Health Department's Environmental Health Division took the lead in removing Topps brand hamburger patty meat from store shelves over the weekend.
The move came following Saturday’s expanded recall of frozen hamburger patties from New Jersey-based Topps Meat to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria. The tainted meat is said to have sickened more than a dozen people in eight states, according to a Monday morning news release from the V.I. Health Department.
The voluntary recall last Tuesday by Topps initially involved some 300,000 pounds of tainted meat. However, three days later, the USDA suspended the grinding of raw products after inspectors found inadequate safety measures at the Topps plant. The USDA has not detailed the inadequate safety measures and it wasn’t clear over the weekend whether the USDA action played a part in the company’s expansion of the recall.
Environmental Health officers conducted inspections of various stores following reports of the expanded recall, said Health Commissioner Vivian I. Ebbesen-Fludd.
“Our Environmental Health officers reported more than 100 boxes of the Topps brand hamburger patties had been taken off shelves,” she said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed E. coli contamination in three people from Topps products, with 22 other cases under investigation. Cases were found in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
E. coli causes intestinal illness that generally clears up within a week for adults but can be deadly for the very young, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Symptoms can include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and, in extreme cases, kidney failure.
The recall represents all Topps products with either a “sell by date” or a “best if used by date” between Sept. 25 this year and Sept. 25, 2008. This information is found on a package’s back panel. The recalled products also have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and/or in the USDA legend.
The Health Department will alert the public with updates as necessary, Ebbesen-Fludd said.

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