The ground beef products were produced between March 31 recalled over E. coli risk

Recall date

May 19, 2014

Source

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA FSIS)

Official notice title

Michigan Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due To Possible E. Coli O157:H7

Recall number

030-2014

FDA classification

Class I

Brand / firm

Wolverine Packing Co.

Why it was recalled

Product Contamination

Class I is the FDA’s most serious recall level: there is a reasonable probability that using this product will cause serious harm or death.

What was recalled

EDITOR'S NOTE added on May 19, 2014: Upon further investigation, FSIS now believes the product was sent to distribution centers nationwide. EDITOR'S NOTE added on May 21, 2014: The illness onset date has been corrected to May 8, 2014. EDITOR'S NOTE added on May 23, 2014: FSIS was notified of the first illness on May 8, 2014. This date was corrected from May 12, 2014 in the initial release. WASHINGTON, May, 19, 2014 Wolverine Packing Company, a Detroit, Mich. establishment, is recalling approximately 1.8 million pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today. The ground beef products were produced between March 31, 2014 and April 18, 2014. For a full list of products that were recalled please see the attached document. The products subject to recall bear the establishment number iEST. 2574B” and will have a production date code in the format iPacking Nos: MM DD 14” between i03 31 14” and i04 18 14.” These products were shipped to distributors for restaurant and retail use nationwide. There was no distribution of the products to the Department of Defense, the National School Lunch Program or catalog/internet sales. Factors that can contribute to the size of the recall include potential contamination of additional products due to a lack of microbiological independence between lots in a production day, as well as a deficiency in supportive record-keeping by distributors. FSIS was notified of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses on May 8, 2014. Working in conjunction with public health partners from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FSIS determined through a traceback investigation that there is a link between the ground beef products from Wolverine Packing Company and this illness cluster. Based on epidemiological and traceback investigations, 11 case-patients have been identified in 4 states with illness onset dates ranging from April…