The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service is issuing a public health alert for imported raw non-intact ground beef products (made with ground beef) for possible E. coli O157:H7. There is a huge beef and veal recall in Canada for products contaminated with that pathogen. Canada is the recalling authority, but FSIS is “amplifying the recall.” These products were produce and exported by Ryding-Regency Meat Packers in Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency notified FSIS that several shipments that were include in a serious of recalls in Canada have been exported to the U.S. Imported beef manufacturing trimmings produced on May 27 and 30, 2019 were used in the U.S. to make other beef products that were sold to the consumer at the retail level.
While the retail companies that made these products have been informed about the recall, consumers most likely have not. These products were distributed to institutions and retailers in these states: Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
The recalled products are:
- 10 pound cardboard box packages containing bulk plastic wrapped raw frozen ground beef gyros labeled “DEVANCO FOODS CHICAGO’S FAVORITE” GYROS SLICES (STRIPS) with a case code 159 19.
- 10 pound cardboard box packages containing bulk plastic wrapped raw frozen ground beef gyros labeled “KRONOS HALAL GYROS STRIPS” HALAL CERTIFIED BEEF GYROS UNCOOKED, IQF STRIPS with a case code 19 159.
- Retail sized (8 patties) cardboard box packages containing “ZIYAD PREMIUM QUALITY Beef Hamburger Patties” with a case code 911541.021541.
- Retail sized (8 kabobs) cardboard box packages containing “ZIYAD PREMIUM QUALITY Uncooked Kufta Kabob” with a case code 911154.021154.
- 8 pound cardboard box packages containing bulk plastic wrapped raw frozen ground beef patties labeled “Shop Right 100% PURE QUARTER POUND Ground Beef Hamburgers” and a sell by date of 060720.
- 3 pound cardboard box packages containing plastic wrapped raw frozen ground beef patties labeled “Shop Right 100% PURE Ground Beef Hamburgers” and a sell by date of 060720.
- 2 pound cardboard box packages containing plastic wrapped raw frozen ground beef patties labeled “LANDIS BRAND 100% ALL BEEF PATTIES 8 Quarter Pound Patties” and a sell by date of 060720.
The government is concerned that some of these ground beef products may be in institutional or home freezers. Check the list above and your freezer carefully to see if you have any of these products. If you do, throw them away in a secure garbage can, or return them to the store where you bought them for a full refund. You can see pictures of product labels and packages at the USDA web site.
Symptoms of an E. coli O157:H7 infection include a mild fever, severe and painful abdominal cramps, and diarrhea that is bloody and/or watery. This infection can become hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in some populations, especially children under the age of five.
And this recall is a good reminder to always cook all ground meats to a temperature of 160°F and cheek that temp with a reliable meat thermometer. That is the only way to kill this pathogen and make ground beef and other ground meats safe to eat.
