ST. GEORGE — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Thursday that JBS Tolleson, Inc. is recalling more than six million pounds of raw beef products due to a possible salmonella risk.
JBS Tolleson, Inc., with headquarters in Tolleson, Ariz. is recalling nearly 6.6 million pounds of various raw, non-intact beef products that may be contaminated with salmonella newport, which causes significant disease in livestock, particularly cattle, in humans, and in other animal species, as the bacteria can rapidly spread among livestock and into the environment.
The raw beef items, including ground beef, were packaged on various dates from July 26 to Sept. 7, 2018. These items were shipped to retail locations and institutions nationwide and inside the USDA mark of inspection is an establishment number “EST. 267”. The statement released by the federal agency said this is considered a high-risk recall.
Products are labeled “Showcase” sold at Walmart and other stores under names such as “JBS Generic”, “Grass Run Farms Natural Beef”, “Gourmet Burger” and “Cedar River Farms Natural Beef”.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service was first notified of an investigation of illnesses caused by the bacteria on Sept. 5, by several patients that had consumed various meat products, and discovered the first store to have sold the contaminated meat two weeks later. The agency was able to trace the bacteria back to ground beef products and identified JBS Tolleson as the common supplier of the product, according to the release.
“The Food Safety and Inspection Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention along with state public health and agriculture partners, have now determined that raw ground beef was the probable source of the reported illnesses,” the statement said.
An investigation has identified 57 cases from 16 states, with illness onset dates ranging from Aug. 5 to Sept. 6, 2018. The agency is concerned that some of the product may be frozen and in consumers’ freezers, and urges consumers who have purchased the products not to consume them. Instead, the items should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
Consumers are advised to safely prepare raw meat products, both fresh and frozen, and only consume ground beef that has been cooked to a temperature of at least 160 degrees Fahrenheit, while other cuts of beef should be cooked to a temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit and then allowed to rest for at least 3 minutes. The only way to confirm that ground beef or other cuts of beef are cooked to a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer that measures internal temperature, a safe internal temperature chart can be found here.
The Food Safety and Inspection Service, will continue to work with public health partners and provide updated information should it become available.
The Food Safety Inspection Service routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify that customers affected by the recall are notified and to make certain the product is no longer available to consumers.
Questions should be directed to the JBS USA Consumer Hotline at 800-727-2333, or to “Ask Karen,” the Food Safety Inspection Service’s virtual representative that is available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov or via smartphone at m.askkaren.gov.
The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 888-MPHotline can be reached from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday, and recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day. The online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at the following link.
JBS Tolleson, Inc.
JBS Tolleson, Inc. is headquartered in Tolleson, Ariz., and is the largest animal protein company in the world, with more than 200,000 team members. The company operates 10 beef processing facilities in the U.S. and Canada, including a facility in Hyrum, located in northern Utah.
Salmonella newport
Most people infected with Salmonella develop symptoms 12-72 hours after being exposed to the bacteria, which can include diarrhea, fever and abdominal cramps. The elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness, the CDC says.
The illness typically lasts from 4 to 7 days, and most people recover without treatment, but in some cases the diarrhea may be so severe that the individual needs to be hospitalized. The infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other places in the body, in which case the bacteria can cause death unless the person is treated promptly with antibiotics.
The CDC estimates that the bacteria causes 1.2 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations and 450 deaths in the United States every year.
This report is based on statements from corporate and public health officials and may not contain the full scope of findings.
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Why is it that the retail distribution list is blank when you click the link to find out what stores carried the ground beef.
packaged from July 26 to Sept. 7, 2018 ? Who pulls meat that’s 1 to 2 months old out of the fridge and eats it?