California has been hard hit by the ground beef Salmonella outbreak linked to a 12-million-pound recall. About one-quarter of all illnesses reported in this outbreak, 66 of the 246 total, have occurred in California. It’s also the state with most grocery stores affected by the massive recall.
The outbreak, which was announced on October 4, 2018, includes 246 people in 25 states, according to the latest update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Fifty-nine people got so sick they need to be hospitalized. Other states reporting illnesses linked to this outbreak are: Arizona (42), Colorado (50), Connecticut (1), Hawaii (4), Idaho (3), Iowa (1), Illinois (1), Indiana (1), Kansas (1), Kentucky (1), Massachusetts (1), Minnesota (2), Missouri (3), Montana (8), New Mexico (9), Nevada (3), Ohio (9), Oklahoma (4), Oregon (1), South Dakota (6), Texas (13), Utah (9), Washington (3), and Wyoming (4).
During interviews with health officials, 90 percent of the people sickened said they ate ground beef in the week before they became ill. A traceback investigation indicated that JBS Tolleson Inc., of Tolleson, Arizona was the common supplier of the beef products.
On October 4, 2018, JBS issued a recall for 6.9 million pounds of ground beef and ground chuck after health officials linked illnesses to the products using genetic testing.
Investigators performed these tests on stool samples cultured from case-patients to identify a “fingerprint” of the Salmonella Newport strain responsible for this outbreak. They also tested ground beef from an unopened package collected from a case-patient’s home. JBS issued a recall when it was notified that the fingerprints closely resembled each other. At that time 57 people in 16 states were sick.
You can contact food safety attorney Fred Pritzker for help by calling 1-888-377-8900.
JBS expanded the recall on December 4, 2018, to include an additional 5.2 million pounds of ground beef and ground chuck products. Grocery stores sold the recalled products as packages of burgers and as chubs of various sizes from late July to early September. The establishment number “EST. 267” appears inside the USDA mark of inspection. Consumers should check any ground beef in their freezers.
In California, more than 100 grocery stores sold the recalled beef. They include statewide locations of chain stores such as Food 4 Less, FoodMaxx, Food Co, Lucky Stores, Ralph’s, Sam’s Club, Savemart, Smith’s and Sprouts. As well as 80 stores operated by smaller grocers. To see a complete list, click the retail distribution list that accompanies the initial recall (October 4, 2018) on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service website.
The people sickened in this outbreak, who range in age from less than one year old to 88 years old, reported onset-of-illness dates ranging from August 5, 2018, to October 16, 2018. Symptoms of a Salmonella infection include diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever.
