Minn. Beef Recall Expanded

M I N N E A P O L I S, Dec. 5, 2000 -- The recall of ground beef sold at Cub Foodsstores will probably soon expand beyond just the meat produced Nov.2 and 3 at a meatpacking plant in Wisconsin, according toexecutives with the store and the meat packer.

They said the Minnesota Health Department’s investigation hasfound that people appear to have been sickened after eating beefground at the plant on days other than Nov. 2 and 3.

“We are concerned about the limited length of the recall ...and the question is ‘Is it only two days that were contaminated ormany more?’” said state epidemiologist Dr. Harry Hull.

Tainted Beef Supplies

American Foods Group Inc. of Green Bay, Wis., announcedMonday that it is recalling more than 1.1 million pounds of groundbeef from Minnesota and 15 other states.

The move came two days after Cub officials said they believedAmerican Foods had supplied the company with tainted beef.

American Foods Group Chief Executive Carl Kuehne said tests havenot confirmed the meat was contaminated with the E. coli bacteria.

“Circumstantial evidence raises the possibility that recentserious illnesses may be related to our product,” Kuehne said in anews release. “We have initiated this voluntary recall of allground beef that could potentially be involved in order toeliminate any possible risk.”

The decision to recall the meat was reached after consultationwith the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the news release said.

22 Cases of E. Coli

The Minnesota Department of Health has linked 22 cases of E.coli to ground beef sold at eight Cub Foods stores in the state.The department said Monday that it had received hundreds of callsfrom consumers who believe they might have been infected with E.coli after eating ground beef from Cub.

“Some of them did have bloody diarrhea, but how many of thoseare actually E. coli,” was hard to say, said Kirk Smith, a HealthDepartment epidemiologist and one of the lead investigators of theoutbreak.

The number of confirmed infections was expected to increase,Smith said.

Bloody diarrhea is one symptom of E. coli infection. Othersymptoms include diarrhea and stomach cramps. The Health Departmentsaid people generally become ill two to four days after eatingtainted beef.

Cub Foods announced Friday that it would recall all fresh groundbeef sold since Nov. 1 from stores in the Twin Cities area,Monticello and Mankato, and from stores in Onalaska and Eau Claire,Wis., after 17 cases of E. coli infection had been linked to groundbeef sold at Cub.

Recall Expanded

On Saturday, Cub parent company Supervalu expanded the recall toCub stores in Chicago and Indianapolis, as well as some Supervaluand Supervalu-supplied stores in Minnesota, including CountyMarkets, Kowalski’s, Jerry’s and Driskills.

Stores in Richland Center and Rice Lake, Wis., were also part ofthe recall.

The company said it would recall about 735,000 pounds of groundbeef from 10 states: Minnesota, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Michigan,Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Ohio and Indiana.

Another 98,000 pounds was being recalled from Iowa, Indiana,Ohio and Wisconsin; about 218,000 pounds from Georgia, Indiana,Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia; nearly 10,000pounds from Tennessee; about 3,000 pounds from Michigan andFlorida; and more than 38,000 pounds from Michigan, North Carolinaand Florida, the company said.

American Foods beef tested last week as part of the U.S.Department of Agriculture’s random testing program tested negativefor E. coli, the company said.