Expanded Recall of Frozen Beef due to E. coli Risk

October 2007

UPDATED ALERT – The beef recall by the Topps Meat Company has been expanded to include 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef that may be tainted with E. coli. The updated recall includes all products marked "EST. 5712" in the USDA mark of inspection. The sell-by and best if used by dates have been expanded to include all products marked between "SEP 25 07" and "SEP 25 08."

A total of 40 related E. coli O157:H7 illnesses are currently being investigated in eight states. Currently, Pennsylvania has the second largest number of infected residents, with 12 ongoing E. coli investigations linked to the Topps recalled beef. Due to the severity of the recall, the Topps Meat Company has been forced to shut down.

September 2007

ORIGINAL RECALL ALERT – Attention consumers – you may be defrosting more than just beef when you cook up your frozen hamburger patties. The Topps Meat Company has announced a recall of over 331,000 lbs of frozen hamburger meat due to a risk of E. coli poisoning.

The tainted hamburgers were sold nationwide under brand names such as Butcher's Best, Kohler Foods, Sand Castle Fine Meat, Topps, and Westside. The recalled meat has sell-by dates including June 22 08, July 12 08, and July 23 08. The Sand Castle boxes carry a packed on date of June 22 08 as opposed to a sell-by date. All packages will carry an makring that reads EST. 9748 inside the USDA mark of inspection.

So far, six cases of E. coli illness linked to the beef have been reported in New York. Symptoms of E. coli sickness typically begin about one week after exposure, and include abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and potential fever, nausea, and vomiting. E. coli infection may be fatal in the young, the elderly, and people with weakened immune systems.