43,000 Pounds of Ground Beef Recalled for Possible E. coli Contamination
On Saturday, June 13, 2020, The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a recall on 43,000 pounds of Lakeside Refrigerated Services’ raw ground beef due to a possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The contamination was first discovered through routine food safety testing conducted by the FSIS which revealed the presence of E. coli o157:H7 monocytogenes.
The raw ground beef recently placed under recall was produced by Lakeside Refrigerated Services, a company based in Swedesboro, New Jersey, on June 1, 2020. All the recalled raw beef products bear the establishment number of “EST. 46841” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The full list of recalled products and their labels can be found here.
The concerned lot of Lakeside Refrigerated Services’ raw ground beef has been shipped to various retailers nationwide, one of the largest being Walmart. While there have not been any reported cases of adverse effects after the consumption of these products, the USDA has categorized this as a Class I Recall, meaning that there is “reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death”.
Recalls of this size shed light on the dangers of processing meat at the speed which most large processing companies like Lakeside Refrigerated Services do. When nearly 43,000 pounds of meat is processed by a company in just one day, there is little to no room for error. One mistake can result in the contamination of thousands of pounds of meat, just like in this case.
Health officials have expressed concern that some of these products may still be in consumers’ freezers. The USDA strongly encourages that anyone still in possession of these items, either dispose of them or return them to their original place of purchase immediately.
https://www.today.com/health/ground-beef-sold-walmart-recalled-possible-e-coli-contamination-t184287
https://www.ecowatch.com/ground-beef-recall-ecoli-2646183932.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3
