You better watch where you get that next burger.. Man Down!
@klassic_p
A Kansas company has recalled more than 14,000 pounds of ground beef due to possible E. coli contamination, federal authorities have announced.
The recalled meat, sold in large packages and distributed in numerous states, comes from Creekstone Farms Premium Beef of Arkansas City, Kansas. Some 14,158 pounds of beef, in a handful of varieties, are subject to the recall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said Tuesday in a press release.
A “third-party” inspector — not Creekstone Farms or the USDA — determined the presence of E. coli 0157:H7, according to the federal agency. The USDA classifies the recall as “Class 1,” having determined “this is a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”
The company has not received reports of illnesses tied to consumers eating potentially contaminated products, the press release said.
Creekstone Farms’ recalled products include: 40-pound cases of “beef fine grind 81/19” with 10-pound “chub” sub-packages, 40-pound cases of “beef chuck fine grind 81/19” with 10-pound “chub” sub-packages, 40-pound cases of “beef sirloin fine grind 91/9” with 10-pound “chub” sub-packages, 40-pound cases of “beef fine grind 90/10 natural” with 5-pound “chub” subpackages, and 60-pound cases of “beef fine ground 93/7.”
All branded “EST. 27” inside the USDA inspection mark, the recalled products were processed on February 22, then shipped to firms in Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington for “further processing and/or distribution.”
The beef’s final destinations remain unclear since they may have been repackaged into smaller packages for sale to individual consumers and sold under different brand names.
Per protocol, the Food Safety and Inspection Service routinely has “recall effectiveness checks” to ensure that companies are properly alerting customers about the recall and making sure the products are no longer available to customers, the agency said in its news release.
On its website, which has no mention of the recent recall, Creekstone Farms boasts that it “supplies many of the nation’s top grocers and restaurants with quality black angus beef products”. Besides being sold in North America, its products are also exported to Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Creekstone is owned by Sun Capital Partners, a large U.S.-based private investment firm that says it has more than 170,000 employees and combined sales greater than $40 billion. It has a large portfolio of companies, including Big 10 Tires, Boston Market, Bruegger’s, Friendly’s, Hanna Anderson and The Limited.
E. coli can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in severe cases, kidney failure. Babies, seniors and people with weak immune systems are most susceptible to the infection.
