Steak E. coli Recall Highlights Potential Dangers of Non-Intact Beef
A steak recall issued Dec. 24 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture involves 248,000 pounds of beef from Owasso, Okla.-based National Steak and Poultry. The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced the beef may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. These steaks were distributed to restaurants nationwide, but the FSIS has yet to announce which restaurants may have served the recalled steak. According to the press release:
“FSIS determined that there is an association between non-intact steaks (blade tenderized prior to further processing) and illnesses in Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington.”
Our independent investigation of this outbreak indicates that people in other states, including Minnesota and Ohio, may be part of this outbreak.
What’s a “non-intact” steak? How do they become contaminated?
Most people think of ground beef products when they think of meat contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. However, it’s common for steaks cut from lower-quality pieces of meat to be “mechanically tenderized” to enhance flavor. This is done by repeatedly puncturing the steak with blades and/or injecting the steak with tenderizing brine. Through this process, a pathogen present on the surface of the meat can make its way inside the meat.
An overwhelming majority of surveyed meat processors–about 94 percent–mechanically tenderize meat, according to a 2003 study cited by a Colorado State University report.
Because of the widespread use of this technique and dangers that it can pose to consumers, the FSIS issued this announcement in 1999:
“To better ensure the safety of the nation’s food supply, in January 1999, FSIS published a Federal Register notice clarifying its policy regarding raw beef products contaminated with the E. coli O157:H7 pathogen. In addition to raw ground beef, the Agency believes that in evaluating beef products contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, intact cuts of muscle that are to be distributed for consumption should be distinguished from non-intact products, as well as from intact cuts of muscle that are to be further processed into non-intact products prior to consumption.”
In other words, non-intact cuts of beef should be treated in a similar way to ground beef. While cooking an intact cut of beef generally kills any pathogens on the meat’s surface, non-intact and ground beef products MUST be cooked to a much higher temperature to kill any bacteria inside the meat.
The trouble is, most people don’t think twice about ordering or preparing a steak rare or even medium-rare.
This FSIS policy allows victims of E. coli steak outbreaks special rights, if the contaminated meats in question were mechanically tenderized. In short, anyone who falls ill with E. coli from a mechanically tenderized, non-intact steak product can sue the product’s manufacturer and the restaurant where it was served.
Pritzker Olsen attorneys have been contacted by E. coli O157:H7 survivors about this outbreak. If you believe you or a loved one have suffered damages from this potential E. coli O157:H7 outbreak or know anything about it, please contact us immediately.
