New Seasons Market has expanded its recall of fresh ground beef sold at its Portland, Oregon stores for possible E. coli O157:H7 contamination after new tests show that some of the potentially contaminated meat was available for sale as recently as November 8, 2019. In addition, one more illness case that is closely associated with one of the three confirmed cases has been identified.
The first recall notice and notice of the outbreak was posted on November 10, 2019 and stated that the ground beef in question was sold from October 13 to October 23, 2019. At that time, three patients had been identified and their illnesses had been confirmed via lab tests. There is no word about any hospitalizations or hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) development.
That means that four people may have been sickened in this E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. All have recovered, according to the notice from the Oregon Health Authority.
The recalled ground beef includes New Seasons Market fresh in-house ground beef and ground beef products that were sold at all New Seasons Markets in Oregon, Washington, and California. The products were sold in bulk from the meat cases and packaged from grab and go cases. The ground beef and ground beef products are marked with three days’ shelf life from the purchase date.
The recalled beef was sold with “Packed On” dates of October 19, 2019 to November 8, 2019. The “Sell By” dates of these products start on October 23, 2019, and run up to and including November 11, 2019.
If you or a loved one has been diagnosed with E. coli O157:H7 food poisoning, you can contact attorney Fred Pritzker for help by calling 1-888-377-8900 or 612-338-0202.
Food safety attorney Fred Pritzker, who has represented many patients sickened with this pathogen, said, “While this is a good reminder to always cook ground beef to 160°F, stores are not allowed to sell food contaminated with enough bacteria to make people sick. These illnesses are not the fault of the people sickened.”
Oregon Health Authority identified the outbreak after tests conducted at the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory found that an identical strain of E. coli O157:H7 was present in all three patients. On November 13, 2019, OHA received preliminary lab results of tests on product samples that were positive for E. coil O157:H7.
New Seasons Market has suspended the sale of the product while the government investigates.
The symptoms of an E. coli infection include a mild fever, severe and painful abdominal cramps, and diarrhea that is usually bloody and/or watery. This condition sometimes develops into a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome, which is a type of kidney failure. If you have eaten ground beef from New Seasons Market and have been ill with these symptoms, see your doctor.
