There's another salmonella scare -- this time with ground beef from a Fresno packinghouse.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday that Beef Packers Inc. was recalling more than 800,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be linked to an outbreak of salmonella-caused illnesses. The company is a division of Minneapolis-based agribusiness giant Cargill Inc.
The beef was processed between June 5 and June 23 and has "EST. 31913" printed on the case code labels. It was sold in stores in California, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.
Because the meat was repackaged into consumer-size amounts and sold under various retail brand names, the agency is urging shoppers to check with their retailers to determine whether they may have bought any of the meat.
Consumers with questions about the recall can also call the Beef Packers consumer line at (877) 872-3635.
The link between the salmonella outbreak and the ground beef was discovered by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment after a flurry of illnesses. The agency alerted federal authorities.
This outbreak involves the Salmonella newport strain of the disease, which is resistant to many commonly prescribed drugs and results more frequently in hospitalization, regulators said.
Salmonella is among the most common food-borne illnesses and can be life-threatening to people with weak immune systems, including infants, the elderly, those with HIV infection and those undergoing chemotherapy. People typically start to get diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight to 72 hours of infection. Additional symptoms include chills, headache, nausea and vomiting, and the disease can last up to seven days.
Salmonella sometimes appears in foods that are typically eaten raw, such as tomatoes, peppers and melons. Just two weeks ago a Salinas company recalled romaine lettuce because it was linked to the illness. An outbreak linked to peanuts this year killed at least nine people.
The steady drumbeat of food-borne illness outbreaks prompted the House of Representatives to pass food safety legislation last week. The bill would require more government inspections and oversight of food manufacturers and give the Food and Drug Administration new authority to order recalls. (The USDA oversees meat products.)
