A Salmonella outbreak linked to tainted ground beef has sickened 16 people, at least six of whom ate it raw. They ate raw Kibbeh, a Middle Eastern dish made from bulgar, minced onions and ground meat. Often the meat is stuffed into a croquette and fried, but sometimes it is served raw, as it was at the unnamed restaurant in Maycomb County, Michigan where six diners who ordered it were poisoned by Salmonella Typhimurium.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that consumers do not eat raw meat because dangerous bacteria such as Salmonella and E.coli can only be killed when meat is fully cooked. Still, there are a number of restaurants and markets around the country that have raw meat dishes on their menus.
Maycomb County has a fair number of them. There are at least 13 Maycomb County restaurants that serve raw kibbeh. For comparison, in the Twin Cities there is one, in New York City there are at least 21. Federal and state health authorities have, so far, chosen not to release the name of the restaurant associated with the outbreak.
Eating food contaminated with Salmonella can cause serious illness. Symptoms which include fever, vomiting and diarrhea usually appear 12 to 72 hours after exposure and can last up to a week. If the infection travels from the intestines to the bloodstream hospitalization is required. Young children, seniors and those with weakened immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness from Salmonella infection. At least five of the nine Michigan residents sickened in this outbreak were hospitalized.
A public health investigators has established a link between the nine cases of Salmonella Typhimurium posioning in Michigan and meat sold at two stores, Jouni Meats, Inc. in Sterling Heights, Mich. and Gab Halal Foods in Troy, Mich. Both companies have issued recalls for ground beef produced between December 4 and December 10 and sold without a label. Consumers who purchased these products and have them in their freezers should not eat them. An investigation into the outbreak which also sickened 10 people in five states who didn’t eat at the restaurant is ongoing.
I have eaten Kibbe at least 100 times, and have never been sick. It is typically made from Lamb but can be beef. I will be more careful, and will only stop eating it if this becomes a larger issue. Maybe the restaurant (which is sadly not named) is at fault. Why is the restaurant not listed?
I’m glad you haven’t gotten sick, but eating any raw ground meat is a large health risk. If you are in a high risk group (elderly, have a chronic illness or compromised immune system), you are really taking a chance. And Salmonella and E. coli infections can put you in the hospital and seriously affect your health long term. All raw meat has bacteria on the surface, which is mixed throughout the meat when it is ground. The restaurant is not being named because the health department is not releasing that information.