Nov. 4--The Western New York beef processing plant at the center of a
regional alert for potentially fatal E. coli contamination continues to
operate pending a visit from federal inspectors.
The Fairbank Farms operation in the Chautauqua County community of
Ashville has recalled nearly 550,000 pounds of ground beef packaged in
mid-September. The beef is linked to the deaths of two people and illnesses
affecting 26 others.
Adrian Gianforti, a spokeswoman for the U. S. Department of Agriculture,
said Tuesday that the department, working with the federal Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, has the task of making sure the voluntary recall has
been properly publicized and finding points along the supply chain where the
suspect beef may have been processed, shipped, repackaged and sold.
Only after that, Gianforti said, will inspectors from the department's
Food Safety and Inspection Service visit the plant. That inspection, she said,
will determine whether equipment or procedures require any changes and whether
any penalties should be assessed.
The plant, which turns beef products from other facilities into ground
beef for sale around the Northeast, rose from the ashes of a factory destroyed
by a 1989 fire. The replacement plant opened in 1992 and employs about 100
people.
One of the deaths linked to the suspect lot was reported in Albany
County. The Associated Press quoted state health officials as saying the
victim, whose identity has not been revealed, had underlying health problems.
The other fatality occurred in New Hampshire.
Of those reported ill, the CDC reported that 16 were hospitalized and
three have developed kidney failure.
A media representative retained by the company stressed that specific
tests have not conclusively established the link between those stricken by the
contamination and Fairbank Farms. Also, she said, even the most virulent
strain of E. coli can be rendered harmless by proper handling and cooking,
specifically making sure the internal temperature of ground beef reaches at
least 160 degrees before being served.
"A lot of times people don't pull out their meat thermometer until
Thanksgiving," said Agnes Schafer, Fairbank Farms' representative. "We really
recommend using it all the time."
Schafer also noted that the beef in the suspect lot, which was packaged
Sept. 15 and 16, was intended for sale only through Sept. 28. So the suspect
product is unlikely to remain in supermarket meat cases.
Most of the illnesses related to the suspected outbreak, the CDC said,
involved people who reported getting sick between Sept. 17 and Oct. 10.
The recall is focusing on retailers in New York, New Jersey, Maryland,
Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia. The beef is known to
have been sold under various brand names at retailers BJ's, ACME, Ford
Brothers, Giant Food Stores, Price Chopper, Shaw's and Trader Joe's.
Beef packaged directly from the suspect lot will have the legend 'EST.
492' on the label and would have sell-by dates ranging from Sept. 19 to Sept.
28. Beef with such a label can be returned to the point of purchase for a full
refund.
But ground beef often is sold in large lots to be repackaged and
relabeled for sale at other retailers. The North Carolinabased grocery chain
Food Lion announced Sunday that it was recalling some of the ground beef sold
in some of its stores because it had been notified that it came from the
Fairbank Farms lot under investigation.
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