Officials: Tainted Meat Leaves 1 Dead, Others Ill
New York-Based Fairbank Farms Recalls Possibly Contaminated Meat
POSTED: 6:28 am EST November 1,
2009
UPDATED: 6:30 am EST November 1,
2009
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A person has died and two others were hospitalized after eating meat that may have been contaminated with E. coli, New Hampshire officials said.A New York meat company has recalled almost 546,000 pounds of ground beef because of links to illnesses from E. coli bacteria in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.New Hampshire officials said they don't know whether the contaminated meat was sold in the state, but it could have been on store shelves. The two people hospitalized have since been released. The state did not specify where the infected victims in New Hampshire are from or where they bought the beef.New Hampshire officials said the investigation started a few weeks ago, and that the state is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As soon as the New Hampshire received information Saturday about the need for a recall, they sent it out, state officials said."(Consumers) should be able to look at this recalled product and see whether that recalled product may be in their freezer and it would not be fresh ground beef. It would be packaged some time ago. They should cook to a proper temperature and always use a meat thermometer to ensure that it's at the proper temperature and that prevents illness," said Chris Adamski, of the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services.The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Saturday the meat, sold by Fairbank Farms, was linked to cases of the food-borne illness in the three New England states. The agency said retail stores -- including Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Lancaster, Wild Harvest, Shaw's, BJ's, Ford Brothers and Giant -- sold the ground beef.Each package carried the number "EST. 492" inside the USDA inspection mark or on the nutrition label. The meat was packaged between Sept. 15 and 16 and was given sell-by dates of Sept. 19 through Sept. 28.In addition, ground beef packaged under the Fairbank Farms name was distributed to stores in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia for further processing.
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