Over 58,000 pounds of ground beef products have been recalled due to possible E. coli contamination.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced the recall in a Sept. 15 notice after a sample batch of raw beef products tested positive for the potentially lethal bacteria.
The Wisconsin-based American Foods Group LLC, which does business as Green Bay Dressed Beef LLC, ordered the recall after state health officials discovered the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) in its product.
Federal health officials said the recall would affect approximately 58,281 pounds of ground beef products produced on Aug. 14, 2023, and sent to distributors in Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio.
The recalled beef products have the establishment number 18076 on their USDA inspection marks.
Although the USDA said there were no confirmed reports of reactions related to the consumption of the products being recalled, distributors are still strongly discouraged from selling the beef and consumers should throw away the beef or return the items to the store, say authorities.
STEC has often been associated with foodborne outbreaks in the past and is mainly found in the environment, foods, and intestines of people and animals.
Most strains are harmless, but some, like the particular strain discovered, STEC 0103, can result in diarrhea and vomiting, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Some individuals may come down with a slight fever, but most recover within a week.
However, the infections can become more severe and even life-threatening for children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.
Foodborne Illness
The CDC estimates that foodborne diseases cause illness in nearly 48 million Americans every year, of whom 3,000 die.The federal health agency blames STEC for an estimated 2,138 hospitalizations in the United States annually and includes it among the top five pathogens behind foodborne hospitalizations in the country, along with norovirus, Salmonella, Campylobacter, and Toxoplasma gondii.
The Epoch Times reached out to American Foods Group for comment.
Earlier in September, Conagra Brands recalled over 245,000 pounds of Banquet brand frozen chicken strip meals after plastic contamination was discovered, according the FSIS.
“The problem was discovered when the firm notified FSIS that it received a consumer complaint of plastic in the chicken strip portion of the product, which resulted in an oral injury associated with consumption of this product,” the agency wrote, but no additional reports of injury or illness were reported.
In February, Conagra Brands recalled nearly 2.6 million pounds of canned Vienna sausages and chicken products over concerns about contamination that could have resulted from packaging defects.
