March 28, 2024

Grocery Chain Linked to Outbreak Reforms Meat Grinding Records

When the Scarborough, Maine-based Hannaford Supermarket chain was implicated by federal inspectors as the source of a ground beef Salmonella outbreak in the Northeast late last year, the announcement came with some blame from USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

“Based on an examination of Hannaford’s limited records, FSIS was unable to determine responsible suppliers,” the agency said in its Class I Recall Notice on December 15. “FSIS recently identified this problem at the retail level and is pursuing rulemaking to address the concern. This recall is being issued as part of a continuing investigation. FSIS has not yet been able to identify FSIS-regulated suppliers of raw beef ground at Hannaford Stores related to the outbreak that could be subject to recall action.”

As updates on the outbreak were rolled out in subsequent weeks, it became evident that investigators couldn’t trace the problem upstream to the slaughter plant where the pathogen likely originated. That failure could have put other people in danger because additional retailers could have received contaminated beef cuts from the same supplier.

This week, Hannaford spokesman Eric Blom said the 179-unit chain has made changes to its meat grinding record-keeping system to facilitate tracebacks.

“We simplified the process by temporarily not grinding trim while we added practices for capturing additional details in the record that facilitates trace-back,” Blom said.

The CDC’s final update on the Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak, issued February 1, said 20 people in seven states were sickened in the outbreak. About half of the food poisoning victims were hospitalized and the outbreak strain of Salmonella was determined to be resistant to multiple antibiotics, including amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, ampicillin, ceftriaxone, cefoxitin, kanamycin, streptomycin, sulfisoxazole, and tetracycline.

Report Your Food Poisoning Case

Error: Contact form not found.

×
×

Home About Site Map Contact Us Sponsored by Pritzker Hageman, P.A., a Minneapolis, MN law firm that helps food poisoning victims nationally.