Ground beef products recalled nationwide after 15 sick from E. coli

In the third major food recall involving contamination just this week, Wolverine Packing Co. of Michigan has recalled more than 167,000 pounds of ground beef spanning more than 140 different products after 15 people in Minnesota became ill with E. coli this month. The ground beef was distributed to restaurants nationwide.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture learned of the cluster of illnesses on Nov. 13 among people who’d eaten ground beef before becoming sick. On Nov. 20, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture tested a sample of the ground beef and it tested positive for E. coli 0157. The investigation is ongoing. The USDA provided a full list of products and labels affected.

E. coli O157:H7 can be deadly; it causes dehydration and other extreme digestive issues within two to eight days after exposure. Most otherwise healthy people recover; young children and senior citizens are most vulnerable to a type of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome. The USDA urges people to cook ground beef to at least 160 degrees to kill any potential bacteria, but ground beef believed to be contaminated shouldn’t be consumed at all.

Earlier this week:

• Grimmway Farms recalled organic whole and baby carrots sold in about 15 grocery chains after carrots contaminated with E. coli have sickened 39 and killed one person.
• Cinnamon distributed nationwide with elevated levels of lead.

These are cases where the contamination was discovered after the products have been distributed. That’s too late. We need to demand that companies do more testing to identify these problems before the products are available to make us sick.

Hundreds of people have become seriously ill and some people have even died in the last several months because they ate one of a variety of foods contaminated by  E. coli or salmonella or listeria. This is clearly not acceptable. 

Most of these cases occur because of poor sanitation: Unsafe production practices, poor handling by employees, unsanitary conditions in plants and more. 

Additional resources:

Report a Problem with Food | FoodSafety.gov

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PIRG’s latest food safety report:
Food for Thought 2024