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News :: Miscellaneous |
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ConAgra launches 2nd largest US beef recall |
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by Reuters/Sehvilla
Email: smann (nospam) stu.parkland.cc.il.us (unverified!) |
19 Jul 2002
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ConAgra, the second largest food company in the United States, has agreed to recall almost 19 million pounds of beef potentially tainted by E. Coli. The USDA says at least 16 people have been sickened by ConAgra's contaminated meat.
This article was forwarded from Yahoo! news. |
ConAgra Recalls Huge Amount of Beef
Fri Jul 19, 2:41 PM ET
By Randy Fabi
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - ConAgra Foods Inc. has launched the nation's second-largest recall of ground beef because of potential contamination with a deadly bacteria that has sickened at least 16 people, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday.
The decision by the No. 2 U.S. food company to pull a total of nearly 19 million pounds of fresh and frozen ground beef at the height of the summer barbecue season ranks second to Hudson Beef's record recall of 35 million pounds of meat in 1997. The news sent shares down 7 percent.
ConAgra is the-second biggest supplier of food and meat after Kraft Foods Inc. Its brand names include Hunt's Ketchup and Healthy Choice Meals.
The number of illnesses from ConAgra beef tainted with E. coli 0157:H7 was difficult to pinpoint.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control said it confirmed at least 16 people were sickened by the ConAgra beef in Colorado, California, Michigan, South Dakota, Washington and Wyoming. Another six illnesses were under investigation.
Earlier, USDA officials said at least 19 people had fallen ill because of the tainted beef.
ConAgra agreed to recall almost 19 million pounds of beef on Friday, after first pulling 354,200 pounds from the market on June 30. The ground beef was sold in 21 states.
"This action is being taken as a cautionary measure to ensure the protection of public health," Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman said. "Public health is our number one priority."
E. coli O157:H7 can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and kidney damage. Children and the elderly are the most at risk.
CONSUMERS URGED TO CHECK REFRIGERATORS
The 19 million pounds of additional meat recalled was produced at the company's Greeley, Colorado, plant between April 12 and July 11, the USDA said.
Some of the meat was sold at Safeway grocery stores, although the USDA refused to detail how much.
The USDA said it would publish later on Friday a list of meat inspection lot numbers that were stamped on packages of ground beef that has been recalled. Consumers should return the meat to a grocery store or discard it.
"We have no way of knowing for sure how much (beef) is in consumers' hands," said USDA Undersecretary Elsa Murano.
A ConAgra spokesman declined to comment, saying only that the company has held talks with the USDA over the past week.
The recall also raises questions about ConAgra's pending deal to sell off more than half its fresh meat processing operations to a private investor group led by Hicks Muse Tate & Furst. The deal, valued at about $1.4 billion, was intended to allow ConAgra to focus more on branded consumer products such Healthy Choice and Armor meats.
Analysts said the huge recall may not dampen consumer demand for grilled hamburgers at summer picnics.
"I continue to be amazed at the capacity of the American consumer to brush off most recalls," said Credit Suisse First Boston food analyst David Nelson. "I've yet to see Americans get overly concerned about this type of thing."
USDA CRITICIZED
Consumer groups criticized the Bush administration for delays in recalling the ConAgra beef.
The department's Food Safety and Inspection Service admitted that it waited 10 days after federal meat inspectors first detected the E. coli bacteria ( news - web sites) in a ConAgra sample before notifying the company.
An embarrassed USDA this week revised its food safety policy to require federal meat inspectors to immediately alert a beef company when its sample tests positive for E.coli. Inspectors will no longer wait until an investigation is complete before notifying a company.
Carol Tucker Foreman, food policy director for the Consumer Federation of America, said the USDA was more concerned about protecting big agribusiness companies than consumers.
The National Cattlemen's Beef Association ( news - web sites), which represents ranchers, said the recall showed the need for meat companies to invest in irradiation technology that uses low doses of electrons or gamma rays to destroy dangerous bacteria.
The largest U.S. food recall for E. coli 0157:H7 contamination was in the summer of 1997.
Hudson Foods first recalled 25 million pounds of its ground beef when 15 people in Colorado fell ill. The firm eventually pulled a total of 35 million pounds of beef off the market after investigators determined that some of the tainted ground beef was reworked into batches of non-contaminated beef.
Hudson was purchased by poultry giant Tyson Foods Inc. one year later.
The E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria is destroyed when meat is cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit.
Shares of ConAgra were off $1.55, or about 7 percent, to $22.20 in afternoon trading at the New York Stock Exchange ( news - web sites).
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