Consumer Reports Says Not to Eat Ground Beef Linked to a Recall of 6.9 Million Pounds (original) (raw)

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 57 people in 16 states were sickened by tainted beef between Aug. 5 and Sept. 6. Fourteen of them were hospitalized.

The people who got sick were in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. The FSIS website indicates that the beef was distributed to more than 20 states including Texas, California, and New York.

After one of the victims provided a store receipt on Sept. 19, the FSIS was able to trace the illness to ground beef from JBS. In total, the FSIS now has eight store receipts from salmonella victims for JBS-produced ground beef.

When asked for information about potential retailers involved, an FSIS spokesperson said it would eventually be posted on its recall web page but declined to give a time frame. FSIS referred Consumer Reports to JBS.

JBS did not provide CR with a list of retailers. A spokesperson said: "Our priority at all times is consumer safety. We are working in close partnership with USDA to make sure all potentially impacted product is removed from stores and homes."

Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., criticized the FSIS Tuesday, stating in part:

"Within the span of just a few weeks there have been two large, nationwide recalls related to ground beef. This is a direct consequence of the USDA's abdication of its regulatory responsibility. FSIS has not updated ground-beef safety standards that were originally set in 1996 and has provided no time frame for doing so—despite a 2014 announcement that it would take action."