- OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - IBP on Wednesday announced the recall of more than
a half-million pounds of beef in 33 states after the meat was found to
possibly contain the E. coli bacteria.
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- The company said a sample of ground beef
produced Oct. 22 at IBP's Dakota City plant was found to possibly be tainted
with E. coli 0157:H7, a rare and often dangerous strain. No illnesses had
been reported to IBP officials as a result of the meat, IBP spokesman Gary
Mickelson said.
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- Complications associated with the 0157:H7
strain can lead to kidney failure, severe anemia, clotting problems and,
in some cases, death.
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- The U.S. Department of Agriculture was
testing the meat, Mickelson said. Though the USDA review was not complete,
the company decided late Wednesday afternoon to recall 556,226 pounds of
meat, Mickelson said.
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- Mickelson refused to specify what specific
restaurants or distributors were affected. He said 71 retail, food service
and distribution customers bought the fine and coarsely ground beef, sold
in vacuum-packaged tubes.
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- The recall does not include any prepackaged
fresh or frozen beef patties.
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- IBP said the bacteria presented no danger
to consumers as long as the meat was thoroughly cooked.
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- Nebraska has been plagued with beef recalls
in the last 15 months, including the Hudson Foods recall of some 25 million
pounds of E. coli-tainted beef - believed to be the nation's largest beef
recall.
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- IBP took over the former Hudson Foods
plant in Columbus, Neb., last year. Forty-thousand pounds of IBP beef were
returned last October after South Korean officials said it was contaminated
with E. coli.
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- Also last year, the now-defunct BeefAmerica
plant in Norfolk recalled more than 600,000 pounds of meat containing E.
coli.
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- The affected states are: Alabama, California,
Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi,
Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma,
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West
Virginia and Wisconsin.
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