By MEGGIE I. FOSTER
Assistant Editor

WASHINTON, D.C. — Recently, a southern Michigan meat processing facility recalled nearly 129,000 pounds of beef products in 15 states, including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, due to possible E. coli contamination.

According to the USDA’s May 11 new release, the recalled meat products are made by the Davis Creek Meats and Seafood in Kalamazoo, Mich. and were made for Gordon Food Service stores.

The contaminated beef products were processed between March 1 and April 30, 2007, and were shipped to food service distribution centers and Marketplace stores in states across the country.

Other recalled states not in the Farm World readership area include: Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

At this point, there are no other states being recalled, according to Davis Meats. The problem was discovered by the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) as part of an illness investigation.

A spokesperson for MDCH said “the state investigates every case if it is two or more unrelated instances of an illness.”

“Two individuals from Michigan reported ill,” said the MDCH spokesperson.

Reportedly, the illness was caused by an E. coli contamination from a cooked hamburger. The MDCH spokesperson said once the illness was reported, the state conducted an in-depth epidemiological investigation, which included a survey of symptoms. MDCH confirmed the cause for illness in both individuals to be an E. coli bacterial contamination due to the consumed meat foods.

Symptoms of E. coli may include stomach cramps that may be severe and diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days. E. coli sometimes can lead to complications, including kidney failure.

Davis Meats said this prompted the company to voluntarily recall the contaminated beef products before illness became widespread across the country.

The items under recall include boxes of mechanically tenderized steaks and ground beef of varying weights.

Labels on the boxes bear the establishment number “Est. 1947A” inside the USDA mark of inspection and a date code (on the top right corner of the label) between “060” and “120.”

Only products with those date codes are subject to recall, according to the USDA report. Each box also bears a net weight declaration and the message “Manufactured for Gordon Food Service” or
“Distributed by Gordon Food Service.”

For a full list of recalled beef products, go online at www.fsis.usda.gov