Thread: Thousands of Pounds Of Beef Recalled for E. Coli

Thousands of pounds of beef recalled for E. coli
5 sickened at steak chain; meat sent to stores and restaurants in 3 states

Updated: 8:20 p.m. ET April 20, 2007
WASHINGTON - A Pennsylvania beef company is recalling about 259,230 pounds of beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday.

USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the Pennsylvania Department of Health have found several illnesses tied to steak products produced by HFX Inc. for Hoss’s Family Steak and Sea Restaurants, a chain based in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said in a statement the illnesses are believed to be the result of eating rare or medium-rare steak at the restaurants March 24-March 29. Four of five people have been hospitalized, but none has developed kidney failure.

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“Because the number of cases is small and the exposure period was several weeks ago, the health department believes the risk to Hoss’s customers is low,” the Pennsylvania Department of Health said.

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• E. coli in the U.S.
See where notable outbreaks have occurred in recent history.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration. Children, elderly and people with poor immune systems are the most susceptible.

USDA said 4,884 pounds were produced on various dates between April 5, 2007, and April 19, 2007, and were distributed to retail stores in Pennsylvania. The rest of the meat, 254,346 pounds, was distributed to restaurants in Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

More information on the recall can be found on the USDA's Web site.


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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18237167/wi ... 3?GT1=9303

It reminds me the article W. post n the 18 th and it's on the home page...

Do you think pasta is still safe? because I'm thinking of resorting to Alfredo as a complete diet for the rest of my life!!

At least pasta is something you have to cook.
I started washing tomatoes with soap, leaving lettuce in a solution with clorox, I only eat kosher meat and poultry, because it has to obbey certain rules on how to handle and cannot be packed in the super market, they have to be packed where they kill the animals, water I'm drinking Perrier...
It seems a joke... oh And fruits I'm peeling them off

A Pennsylvania beef company is recalling about 259,230 pounds of beef products due to possible contamination with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday.

Here we go again with the never ending circle of contamination. Growing your own veggies and butchering your own beef seems to be the only way around it.

Originally Posted by minnie

It seems a joke... oh And fruits I'm peeling them off

But what concerns me is the way the fruit was irrigated. Where does the water come from? A river, streams, recycled water that could be from sewers? Do cows, animals, and people "go" in the same water that is used to water the fruit? "Peeling" fruit doesn't mean you are getting anything fresh or protected because it has skin on it. I am currently eating a banana which says it's from Costa Rica. Is it ecoli-free because it has a skin? Water had to get into the roots of the tree, which carrys it down or up to the fruit.

Notice how paranoid I am getting with each keystroke? I am getting myself all worked up and people must think I am nuts!

Can anyone find anything about this company's hiring practices?

Are they, like most other meatpacking plants, using illegal labor?

Here is the HFX website.


http://www.hosspeople.com/index.html

Don't buy ground meat. Do like I do and buy cuts of chuck (or whatever is on sale) and grind it yourself. That way you don't have a chance of intestines (Where the e coli is found in a cow) contaminating the finished product.
It takes longer and is a pain but what is your piece of mind worth.

I don't believe the irrigation water is bad, the Agriculture Dep. must have some control over the places. but my problem is what these people do (or where do they go) if in their countries is common to relief on the fields, why are they going to change here ? I used to buy American products, but I let them for 1/2 an hour in clorox water to kill the germs and also I started washing the potatoes. peelling them and them cooking. This way if the skin is contaminated it doesn't go inside.
I don't cook anything without washing it first.
As they say "everything you touch, we touched before".