Cargill recalls beef products after US salmonella outbreak

Cargill Meat Solutions, the umbrella organization of Cargill's beef, pork and turkey businesses, has recalled 29,339 pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis, according to the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

The products subject under recall carry the establishment number "EST. 9400" inside the USDA mark of inspection.

Though the products have passed the use-by date, and are no longer available for retail sale, FSIS and the company remain concerned that some product may be frozen in consumers' freezers. The products produced on 25 May, 2012, and were shipped to distribution centres in Connecticut, Maine and New York for further distribution.

The matter came to the attention of the FSIS during the course of an ongoing investigation of a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis involving 33 case-patients from seven states.

FSIS worked in association with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Vermont Department of Health, New York State Department of Health, and New York State Department of Agriculture & Markets, to tie up illnesses in five case-patients to the ground beef products produced at the establishment on the basis epidemiologic and traceback investigations, as also in-store reviews.

The dates of illness in the five case-patients ranged from 6 June, 2012 to  13 June, 2012, with two of the five case-patients needing hospitalisation.