Oct. 25, 2007 — Restaurant owners should check their freezers for frozen ground beef from Blue Ribbon Meats. The company issued a recall Wednesday for five of its products that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria.
The product was distributed through Merchant's Market on St. Thomas.
"It's strictly an institutional product," said Manager Lou Elias of Merchant's Market.
Thirty cases containing 300 pounds of the product were shipped through Blue Ribbon's Florida distributor, Merchant's Export, to St. Thomas, said Blue Ribbon Meats Vice President Ira Bregman, speaking from his office in Hialeah, Fla.
The St. Thomas-based Merchant's Market gets its products from Merchant's Export, Elias said. The company has pulled back 11 of the 30 cases and contacted other restaurants who buy from Merchant's Market to let them know about the recall. Elias declined to name the restaurants.
According to a list from the U.S. Agriculture Department, the recall includes Wespak B.R.'s brand seasoned beef patties for Salisbury; JNS Foods, LLC, B.R.'s brand seasoned beef patties for Salisbury; JNS Foods LLC beef pattie mix; JNS Foods LLC beef patties; and JNS Foods LLC meatloaf seasoned beef patties.
The boxes carry the number Est. 451A inside the USDA mark of inspection. Each case or box has a date code of 2577, 2647 or 2707. The ingredients include textured vegetable protein or defatted soy grits.
The frozen beef products were produced between Sept. 14 and 27 and were sent to a distributor that shipped the products to a correctional institute in Florida as well as Merchant's Export, which then shipped them to St. Thomas.
The problem began when the company that supplies beef to Blue Ribbon, Creekstone Farm in Arkansas City, Kan., had put the contaminated beef "on hold" in August, Bregman said. The company subsequently shipped the contaminated beef to Blue Ribbon in September. Blue Ribbon discovered the problem Wednesday, Bregman said.
The recall includes a total of 8,200 pounds of frozen ground beef.
The bacteria is E. coli O157:H7, a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration, according to a news release from the Agriculture Department. Those most susceptible to food-borne illnesses are the very young, seniors and people with compromised immune systems.
Back Talk Share your reaction to this news with other Source readers. Please include headline, your name and city and state/country or island where you reside.
