On Monday, April 25, the Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that a New Jersey-based company was issuing a recall of over 120,872 pounds of ground beef products due to fears of possible E. coli contamination.
Lakeside Refrigerated Services, located in Swedesboro, NJ, indicated that its ground beef products are on shelves at retailers across the country.
The discovery of possible E. coli bacteria came during routine testing by the FSIS and involved products produced this year between February 1 and April 8. There have been no reported cases of E. coli or adverse reactions to the products.
Over forty different products are involved and include brands such as Marketside Butcher (sold at Walmart), Nature’s Reserve, and Thomas Farms. Each product subject to the recall has the following establishment number underneath its USDA mark of inspection: “EST. 46841.”
FSIS urges consumers who may have purchased the product to either take it back to where they bought it or throw it away.
Unlike more common strains of E. coli, this particular variant is generally harder to identify. Known officially as STEC O103, the bacteria generally produces symptoms approximately 3 or 4 days after an individual consumes the product in question.
Those symptoms can include stomach cramps, vomiting, the development of a fever, or diarrhea that results in a bloody stool. In most cases, staying hydrated is a critical factor in recovery.
As unpleasant as those conditions are, E. coli can lead to life-threatening illnesses. One potentially deadly condition is hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) which develops in approximately 5 to 10% of infected individuals.
The primary groups that develop HUS are older adults, children under 5, and persons with compromised immune systems, including individuals undergoing cancer treatments. Prompt medical care is vital for anyone with HUS, as it can be fatal in some cases.
A complete list of products affected by the recall can be found here, and a list of labels for the affected products can be found here.
