Nebraska Beef Recall Expanded

[derketchup]

washingtonpost.com

Nebraska Beef is expanding a recall announced earlier this week to include all 5.3 million pounds of meat it produced for ground beef between May 16 and June 26. Federal investigators have linked Nebraska Beef's products to an outbreak of E. coli illnesses affecting 41 people in Michigan and Ohio. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said yesterday that Nebraska Beef's practices were insufficient to effectively control E. coli bacteria. All the beef being recalled was sold to wholesalers and distributors, so consumer labels likely would not include the "EST 19336" code that identifies Nebraska Beef. The original recall covered beef sent to businesses in Nebraska, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas. The company did not specify whether the 5.3 million pounds now being recalled went to any other states. Some Nebraska Beef products were sold by the Kroger grocery chain, which has recalled ground beef products in more than 20 states

[XUfan]

I got an automated call from Kroger on Thursday, saying that I needed to return the ground beef that I had purchased last week. I called the store, because I had bought 2 huge packages, and re-packed them into meal-size packs for the freezer. The CS person at the store told me that they could not take it back without a label. I explained that my husband had had diarrhea for 3 days last week, after eating burgers from the grill, but they said they needed proof. So....

I emailed CS at the corporate level. I got a call this morning at 8:30, telling me that they needed more info about my husband's problems. I told them what I know, and they told me "DO NOT throw that beef away! We'll be contacting you again, after this is sent to an office higher than mine."

Hey...he's ok now, and all I really wanted was a GC for the amount I spent on the meat (which they can look up through your loyalty card...but they won't tell you that!). Now, I'm not sure what's going to happen.

[derketchup]

omg... it's getting UGLY!

Meanwhile, in Nebraska... - The Checkout

In 2003, USDA went to court to try to shut down Nebraska Beef 's Omaha packing plant after citing it for numerous violations. The company, in turn, sued USDA and challenged its authority require food safety plans and even won a court injunction stopping USDA from closing it down. Nebraska Beef and USDA later settled the case. Three years later, Minnesota public health and USDA officials linked an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in ground beef that killed a Minnesota woman to Nebraska Beef, although USDA never publicly named the company as the source. The woman who died ate meatballs at a church event. Her family sued Nebraska Beef and the company, in turn, sued the church saying the volunteers who prepared the food were at fault. Most recently, in 2007, Nebraska Beef sued USDA again, saying its inspectors had unfairly targeted it. The suit was later dismissed. I'll let you know what happens next because I have a feeling this is not the end of the story.