Consumer Reports announced a major beef recall involving 100,000 pounds of the product. According to the report, only restaurants have the ground meat, making many consumers who often eat out fear for their health.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), beef products listed under this recall come from Georgia-based K2D Foods, or Colorado Premium Foods. While grocery stores did not carry the recalled beef, officials are urging consumers to stay alert.
So far, officials identified 156 cases of people falling ill due to the E. coli O103 strain in ten states. However, they did not report if this particular recall has anything to do with the outbreak.
Those who are currently ill claim they started feeling sick after eating beef at home or in restaurants.
This particular strain of E. coli is serious because it causes the common food poisoning symptoms we all know as well other issues that lead to organ damage. Impacted products, which came from two distributors in Florida and Georgia, made their way to various restaurants in vacuum-sealed packages with “use thru” dates ranging from April 14 to April 30.
Many Pounds Of Recalled Beef Yet To Be Returned
Officials claim that restaurants still have to return or dispose of 21,000 pounds of the beef listed under this recall. While the campaign involves 113,424 pounds of ground beef, the amount left could potentially expose consumers to risks.
If you are a restaurant owner and you purchase ground beef from Colorado Premium Foods, you should check the ground beef in your possession to see if it is part of this recall.
Originally, officials identified the contamination after patients tested positive for the E. coli strain associated with the ongoing outbreak. Once officials tested sealed packages of the beef from a particular restaurant in Tennessee, officials found the products were contaminated. Still, officials could not link the beef to the cases of health issues.
Ground beef is particularly dangerous as E. coli outbreaks are often associated with that type of meat. One of the latest outbreaks tied to ground beef happened in September 2018. Officials said that 246 people fell ill due to the ground beef product in 25 states.
For more on this recall, follow this link.
