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Ohio Plant Has History With E coli Recall

By PritzkerLaw

It appears as though the processing plant belonging to Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Illinois, has prior experience in a recall of ground beef related to an outbreak of  E. coli O157:H7.

Valley Meats LLC is the USDA-licensed meat processing plant that on Thursday recalled 48 tons of frozen beef patties and refrigerated ground beef as part of an investigation into an E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Health officials are investigating whether the death of a 7-year-old Cleveland girl from E. coli O157:H7 was part of the outbreak.

An initial investigation by national food safety law firm Pritzker Olsen Attorneys uncovered the following press release information in the public archives of the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Keep in mind that Valley Meats LLC lists the brand name J & B Meats on its current federal processing certificate:

Washington, Oct. 13, 2007: - J & B Meats Corporation Inc., a Coal Valley, Ill., establishment, is voluntarily recalling approximately 173,554 pounds of frozen ground beef products because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced today.

The recall list in the 2007 press release included two-pound, three-pound and eight-pound boxes of frozen "Topps 100% Pure Ground Beef Hamburgers.''  The boxes were stamped with the unique USDA Establishment Number 5712 --  the same establishment number stamped on the packages of beef recalled Thursday by Valley Meats LLC.

The J & B recall of Topps hamburgers coincided with the large E. coli 0157:H7 recall of many more pounds of Topps beef patties by the Topps Meat factory in Elizabeth New Jersey. At that time, the Topps recall was the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history and it resulted in the plant going out of business. At least 40 E. coli illnesses had been associated with Topps burgers at the time of the recalls.

The same plant, with Establishment No. 5712, was the subject of two additional E. coli O157:H7 recalls in 2002 and 2003. In both outbreaks, J & B Meats Corp. was listed as operator and the recall involved frozen hamburger patties and packages of ground beef.

Records show the 2002 recall was for 63,000 pounds. Then, as now, the product was distributed to restaurants, hotels and other food service accounts.

A recall on May 30, 2003, happened after the State of Wisconsin investigated an E. coli O157:H7 illness from ground beef, records show.

Pritzker Olsen founder and president Fred Pritzker is calling on Valley Meats LLC and any restaurants that may be involved in the current E. coli outbreak to agree to pay the medical bills and lost wages of victims and their families. Pritzker also called on the responsible parties to issue a formal apology.

To contact an E. coli 0157:H7 lawyer at Pritzker Olsen, call 1-888-377-8900 (Toll Free) or write to us online for a free case consultation.

Pritzker Olsen is involved in practically all major outbreaks of foodborne illness and has recovered  millions of dollars for victims  of E. coli infection and related Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome, or HUS .

E. coli O157:H7 infections are especially dangerous for young children, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. HUS is a complication of E. coli that is the leading cause of E. coli deaths.  

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on May 22, 2009 (boomark / email).