JBS Swift Beef Expands Recall Of Contaminated Beef
Published:29-June-2009
By Staff Reporter
Marler Clark calls for JBS Swift to reveal retail distribution of E. coli-tainted beef
The JBS Swift Beef Company has expanded their earlier recall of 41,280 pounds of beef contaminated with the highly toxic pathogen E. coli O157:H7 to include an additional 380,000 pounds. The beef recalls are FSIS Class I, meaning that “use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death.”
The company has made available a list of recalled products, but has refused to reveal where those products were shipped, even in light of illnesses linked to the meat.
William Marler, advocate and attorney of food safety, said: “The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has indicated that 24 illnesses are being investigated in connection with the recall, and 18 have been linked. Yet consumers have no information as to what states the tainted meat was shipped to or what retail outlets or restaurants received it. JBS Swift has this information at its fingertips, and it is unconscionable that they have not made it available to the public.
“We know where we shop. If we’re told that the supermarket where we buy our food received beef that has been recalled due to contamination with a pathogen that could severely sicken our family, we’re going right to the refrigerator to see if we have any of the product.
“On the other hand, if we hear that some beef has been recalled, and maybe see a list of numbers and codes, most of us are going to assume that the recall doesn’t apply to us, because if it did, certainly we would be alerted by the government agency responsible for our health. We entrust our family’s lives to the FSIS and to the companies it regulates. They must step forward with the information that consumers need, and they must do it now.”
