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CAPITAL REGION
E. coli warning issued over Topps hamburger patties
BY JAMES SCHLETT Gazette Reporter

   A possible E. coli outbreak in hamburger patties prompted New York’s health and agriculture commissioners Tuesday to issue a consumer warning. Price Chopper also pulled more than 8,000 Topps brand products off its shelves.
   State officials urged consumers not to eat certain Topps 100% Ground Beef Hamburgers. Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker and Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines told New Yorkers to avoid the Topps frozen ground beef patties in 5-pound boxes with a July 22 sell date and 3-pound boxes with a July 23 sell date.
   Daines and Hooker warned that the bacteria is potentially lethal for children and the elderly. The state Department of Health has identified six illnesses related to the E. coli outbreak. They include two people each in Albany and Monroe counties. Herkimer and Washington counties each reported a single infection.
   “Three of those people were hospitalized. This is serious,” said Health Department spokeswoman Claudia Hutton.
   At the same time, the Rotterdambased Price Chopper chain said it had pulled those two types of products from its shelves, along with all other frozen Topps items. The grocery chain pulled 8,773 Topps items overall, including 1,257 5-pound boxes and 1,725 3-pound boxes.
   “We err on the side of caution. We make sure; we don’t want to compromise the safety of customers,” Price Chopper spokeswoman Maureen Murphy said.
   Health Department laboratories used DNA testing to match an E. coli 0157:H7 strain in consumers to one found in Topps hamburgers at the company’s main freezer facility. The Elizabeth, N.J.-based Topps Meat Company distributed the frozen patties throughout New York.
   The U.S. Department of Agriculture was reviewing the state’s findings, but the federal agency had not issued a product recall as of late Tuesday afternoon.
   Symptoms of the illness associated with the E. coli strain include severe abdominal cramps, watery and bloody diarrhea, vomiting, nausea and low-grade fever. E. coli poisoning can also result in a form of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome.
   The Health Department began investigating the ground beef after noticing the illnesses in late July and early August, Hutton said.
   The Topps incident marks the Capital Region’s first major E. coli outbreak since the September 2006 recall of bagged fresh spinach contaminated with the bacteria. Price Chopper and Hannaford then pulled the spinach products from their shelves.  

  
  
  

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State officials urged consumers not to eat certain Topps 100% Ground Beef Hamburgers. Agriculture Commissioner Patrick Hooker and Health Commissioner Dr. Richard Daines told New Yorkers to avoid the Topps frozen ground beef patties in 5-pound boxes with a July 22 sell date and 3-pound boxes with a July 23 sell date.

It was said on the news last night that this was mainly with hamburgers from Price Chopper and the sell by date is a 2008 date.  I don't know how far out they usually go.

I also heard that it is the exact same strain of E.Coli that has been popping up in other areas of the country. WASH YOUR HANDS PLEASE!!

Were there illegal immigrants not washing their hands when 'picking' the burgers off the trees?????

Okay senders, cut it out....You know what I ment..I think!

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21 made ill by
eating burgers,
according to CDC
   TRENTON — Twenty-one people in eight states may have fallen ill after eating hamburgers possibly contaminated with E. coli bacteria, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.
   CDC spokeswoman Lola Russell said three cases — two in New York and one in Florida — are confirmed as being linked to the ground beef, with the other 18 cases possibly linked and under investigation.
   No one has died, but Russell said she had no additional information on the cases.
   Elizabeth, N.J.-based Topps Meat Company on Tuesday announced a recall of boxes of frozen hamburgers it distributed. The recall affects 331,582 pounds of frozen beef patties and 21 products that were distributed nationwide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Topps said.
   The boxes recalled carry the number “Est. 9748” inside the USDA mark of inspection and were produced on June 22, July 12 or July 23, the USDA said.
   The recalled products include certain 10-pound boxes of Butcher’s Best 100% All Beef Patties; certain 10-pound boxes of Kohler Foods burgers; certain 10-pound boxes of Sand Castle Fine Meat; some 2-pound boxes of Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers; and some 3-pound boxes of Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers.
   The company, the leading U.S. manufacturer of frozen hamburgers, said this was its first recall in its 65-year history.
   A full list of the recalled products is available at http://www. toppsmeat.com/.

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Topps expands recall of burgers
Year’s worth of product included in E. coli warning
BY TOM HESTER JR. The Associated Press

   The Topps Meat Co. on Saturday expanded its recall of frozen hamburger patties to include 21.7 million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria that sickened more than a dozen people in eight states, including New York.
   The recall of products distributed to retail grocery stores and food service institutions in the United States was a drastic increase from the 332,000 pounds recalled Tuesday.
   The recall represents all Topps products with either a “sell by date” or a “best if used by date” between Sept. 25 this year and Sept. 25, 2008. The Elizabeth, N.J.-based company said this information is found on a package’s back panel.
   All recalled products also have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and/or in the USDA legend, the company said.
   The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday it had suspended the grinding of raw products at the Topps plant after inspectors found inadequate safety measures at the Topps plant. The USDA declined to detail the inadequate safety measures.
   “Because the health and safety of our consumers is our top priority, we are taking these expansive measures,” said Geoffrey Livermore, Topps’ operations vice president.
   He said Topps has augmented its procedures with microbiologists and food safety experts.
   “We sincerely regret any inconvenience and concerns this may cause our consumers,” Livermore said.
   The USDA said three people are confirmed as getting E. coli from Topps products, with 22 other cases under investigation. Cases were found in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
   E. coli causes intestinal illness that generally clears up within a week for adults but can be deadly for the very young, the elderly and people with compromised immune systems. Symptoms can include severe stomach cramps, bloody diarrhea and, in extreme cases, kidney failure.
   A full list of the recalled products is available at www.toppsmeat. com.  

  
  
  

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All recalled products also have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and/or in the USDA legend, the company said.

Well, perhaps we can't depend on this 'stamp of approval' on our food anymore. I guess that they inspect food AFTER it has become contaminated, huh?

Quoted from bumblethru

Well, perhaps we can't depend on this 'stamp of approval' on our food anymore. I guess that they inspect food AFTER it has become contaminated, huh?

We never could count on it for 100%......same with birth control.....we must have our heads up our butts if we REALLY think and believe that every piece of food/drugs etc are totally tested before those machines spit them all out.......there are workers that follow those lines of manufacturing and as we all know-------"the integrity challenged/illegal aliens live among us"---ooohhh I'm scared.......

http://www.timesunion.com

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Watervliet family sues over tainted meat  
  
By CATHLEEN F. CROWLEY, Staff writer
Monday, October 1, 2007

ALBANY -- The family of a Watervliet girl who became sick after eating a Topps hamburger filed a lawsuit today in Albany County Court. The suit holds Topps Meat Company liable for the E. coli infection the girl suffered and seeks unspecified damages.
  
Topps Meat Co. has been identified as the manufacturer of frozen meet patties that infected at least 25 people nationally, and several in New York.

The 8-year-old Watervliet girl was hospitalized for several days starting on Aug. 22, but is expected to recover fully.

  

I'm not surprised....

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Topps Meat Co. closes after recall
Nearly 90 employees put out of work
BY JEFFREY GOLD The Associated Press

   NEWARK, N.J. — It took 67 years to build Topps Meat Co. into one of the country’s largest suppliers of frozen beef patties; it took just six days to bring it down.
   Topps, which began grinding beef before the nation entered World War II and eventually had its products sold in stores nationwide, announced on Friday that it was shutting down.
   Closure of the privately held, Elizabeth-based company puts 87 employees out of work and comes after Topps was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history on Sept. 29.
   The culprit was 21.7 million pounds of frozen beef patties — an entire year of production — that may have been tainted with potentially fatal E. coli bacteria.
   The Topps recall raised questions about whether the U.S. Agriculture Department should have acted quicker to encourage a recall, and on Thursday, top USDA offi - cials said they would speed warnings in the future.
   Thirty-two people in eight states had E. coli infections matching the strain found in the Topps patties, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. None have died.
   Topps conceded that much of the recalled meat had already been eaten and on Friday expressed regret that its product had been linked to illnesses. “We hope and pray for the full recovery of those individuals,” said Topps chief operating officer Anthony D’Urso, a member of the family that founded the company in 1940.
   “This is tragic for all concerned,” D’Urso said in a statement.
   Workers left the plant in small groups Friday afternoon, most carrying personal belongings.
   Evelyn Hidalgo, who worked for a year in personnel at the plant, described the mood there Friday as “very somber.” She added, “Everybody came in this morning like it was a regular day. Then we had a meeting and that was it. It’s heartbreaking.”
   Vivian Quinones, who carried a plastic garbage bag of gear, said she had only worked at the plant two years. “I have to start over again,” she said.
   Topps, which halted production Sept. 26, is not the first meat company shuttered by a recall. Hudson Foods Co. closed its plant in Columbus, Neb., after it agreed in 1997 to destroy 25 million pounds of hamburger in the largest U.S. meat recall after E. coli was found in the ground beef. The plant later reopened with new owners.
   Topps faces at least two lawsuits filed since the recall; one from the family of a North Colonie girl who became ill, and one seeking class-action status on behalf of all people who bought or ate the hamburgers. The family of a Florida girl who suffered kidney failure sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is among chains that sold patties made by Topps. On Friday, the companies again said they will not comment on the suits.
   The closing, or any subsequent bankruptcy, does not derail the lawsuits, said William D. Marler, a lawyer for the family of 8-yearold Emily McDonald of North Colonie. She was hospitalized for two days after eating a hamburger Aug. 17 at a barbecue.
   “Bankruptcy will slow the process down, but it does not mean that people will not be compensated,” Marler said.
   The problem came to light on Sept. 25, when the New York State Department of Health issued an alert warning consumers that some Topps hamburgers may be contaminated with E. coli strain O157:H7. Topps recalled 331,582 pounds of its frozen hamburgers that day.
   On Sept. 29, Topps expanded the recall to 21.7 million pounds of its frozen hamburgers after further evidence from the New York Health Department indicated a wider problem.
   D’Urso said that a few employees will remain at the site to help USDA scientists investigate the source of the E. coli outbreak.
   The bacteria, which can be fatal to humans, is harbored in the intestines of cattle and can also get on their hides. Improper butchering and processing can cause the E. coli to get into the meat.
   Thorough cooking, to at least 160 degrees internal temperature, can destroy the bacteria.
   Topps got beef parts from slaughterhouses, ground them, formed the meat into patties and froze them. Topps, which claimed to be the leading U.S. maker of frozen hamburger patties, said it sold its products to supermarkets and institutions such as schools, hospitals, restaurants and hotels.
   Not everyone was worried about eating Topps beef.
   Employees had a cookout Friday and Topps hamburgers were on the menu, said Archimedes Antigua, 58, who added that workers were assured the meat was safe. “People just don’t know how to handle it” through proper cooking, said Antigua, who said he worked there 36 years.
   “There’s nothing wrong with our product.”

Vivian Quinones, a two-year employee, leaves the Topps Meat Co. plant in Elizabeth, N.J. Topps said Friday it was closing its business.
MIKE DERER/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIKE DERER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Carlos Ramos, center, who said he has worked for 33 years at the Topps Meat Co. plant in Elizabeth, N.J., kisses other employees, who would not give their names, outside the plant on Friday.

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“People just don’t know how to handle it” through proper cooking, said Antigua, who said he worked there 36 years.

that's a fact----rare burger eaters.....take the taste risk and there you go.....

I may be wrong here, but when meat has reached the required temperature during cooking, doesn't that just about guarentee ecoli is non existant? That was always my belief anyways. I always have my red meat cooked med to well. I hate seeing, smelling or eating the blood. UGH!

Quoted from bumblethru

I may be wrong here, but when meat has reached the required temperature during cooking, doesn't that just about guarentee ecoli is non existant? That was always my belief anyways. I always have my red meat cooked med to well. I hate seeing, smelling or eating the blood. UGH!

It's not even real 'full blooded' blood-- ---red dye #5 maybe......