Canadian beef the culprit in E.coli outbreaks in U.S. and Canada

Oct 29 2007

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has issued a warning to the public regarding various beef products.

According to the CFIA the products may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria and have now been recalled.

The affected products were found as result of the CFIA's investigation and traceback conducted on contaminated beef involving the now defunct Canadian meatpacker Ranchers Beef, in Balzac, Alberta.

The CFIA believes the meat plant was the "likely source" of beef that caused an outbreak of food-borne illnesses in the United States and Canada, which resulted in almost 100 cases of illness.

The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) says a comparison of "DNA fingerprints" of beef samples pointed to the Ranchers Beef company.

The FSIS has advised U.S. food makers not to use boneless beef "trim" from Ranchers Beef and to hold all raw products made from it until both nations complete the investigation.

The FSIS removed Ranchers Beef's approval as an importer on October 20th and the meatpacker was linked to the contaminated products which prompted the Topps Meat expanded recall on September 29th.

Topps Meat was the largest U.S. producer of frozen beef patties; the recall which involved 21.7 million pounds of beef resulted in the demise of the company.

Ranchers Beef ceased operating on August 15th but some of its products remained in storage and were tested by CFIA as part of its investigation into illnesses in Canada.

The U.S. Center of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the PFGE patterns from Ranchers Beef matched those from patients who became ill and from beef samples taken by New York state officials.

The CFIA says 45 cases of illness caused by E. coli were reported in five Canadian provinces from July to September, which included one death.

The CDC says as of last Friday there have been 40 reported illnesses under investigation in eight U.S. states.

The products in question are boneless chuck steak and ground beef products sold at Shoppers Wholesale and Mr. G retail outlets in Prince George between June 20 and June 30 and ground beef sold at Buy-Low Foods in Lillooet between August 14th and 24th.

Distributors are voluntarily recalling any of the affected products still in the marketplace and the CFIA advises consumers with the affected meat in their freezers not to consume it.

Food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled but consumption of food contaminated with the bacteria may cause serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses.

Symptoms include severe abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea and some people may have seizures or strokes and some may need blood transfusions and kidney dialysis.

Others may live with permanent kidney damage and in severe cases people may die.

The CFIA is monitoring the effectiveness of the recalls.

For more information, consumers and industry can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday).