Thought this might interest you food system watchers. From the ProMED
news service.
peace
misha
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LISTERIOSIS, MULTIFOCAL - USA (02)
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A ProMED-mail post
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 21:41:01 -0500
From: Robert A. LaBudde
Source: FSNET
Sara Lee Corp. is, according to this story, recalling hot dogs and
other packaged meats, some sold under well-known brands like Ball
Park and Hygrade, because they could contain _Listeria_.
Sara Lee officials were cited as saying today that the affected
brands were produced by the company's Bil Mar Foods unit in Zeeland,
Mich. The products include some brands distributed throughout the
United States, as well as some regional brands.
George A. Chivari, president and chief executive officer of Bil Mar
Foods, was quoted as saying in a news release that, "The safety of
everyone who eats our products is our No. 1 priority, and therefore
we are voluntarily taking this precautionary measure."
Sara Lee spokeswoman Theresa Herlevsen was cited as saying that Sara
Lee is cooperating with an investigation by the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention into reports of food poisoning that
might have been caused by the _Listeria_ bacteria in certain meat
products although she could give no details of the reported cases.
The story notes that a CDC spokeswoman did not immediately return a
telephone call seeking comment. The affected products are coded EST
P261 or EST 6911 and include the Ball Park, Bil Mar, Bryan Bunsize
and Bryan 3-pound Club Pack hot dogs, Grillmaster, Hygrade, Mr.
Turkey, Sara Lee Deli Meat and Sara Lee Home Roast brands. The Sara
Lee spokeswoman did not know how many packages were involved in the
recall.
Consumers can return any affected packages to the place of purchase
for a full refund.
An official with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was
cited in the Dow Jones story as confirming that the CDC has made a
"provisional" determination that an outbreak of listeriosis which
has killed at least four people can be traced to hot dogs made at a
Michigan plant owned by Sara Lee Corp. (SLE).
Dr. Stephen Ostroff, associate director at the CDC's National Center
for Infectious Diseases was quoted as saying, "We're not at the end
of the investigation," but he said that Sara Lee is the only company
included in the CDC's investigation of the recent outbreak involving
the _Listeria_ bacteria. He praised the company, saying Sara Lee has
"proactively taken a stance to protect the public's health."
In some cases, some of the patients still had open containers of the
suspect hot dogs in their refrigerators, and the specific strain of
_Listeria_ turned up in one package of Sara Lee-manufactured franks.
Ostroff was quoted as saying, "That's another very strong piece of
information," because "the strain that is actually causing this
outbreak is not very commonly seen."
Those various pieces of information, Ostroff said, "seemed to lead
back ... to this specific facility."
It is "problematic," Ostroff said, to determine how far back the
contamination at the plant occurred. It is possible that, if some of
the early cases of the outbreak occurred in early August, that the
contamination could have occurred in the plant's July production.
Ostroff reiterated that "a lot of lab work remains to be done"
before the CDC will be in a position to make a definitive
determination as to the source of the outbreak.
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Michele Gale-Sinex, communications manager
Center for Integrated Ag Systems
UW-Madison College of Ag and Life Sciences
Voice: (608) 262-8018 FAX: (608) 265-3020
http://www.wisc.edu/cias/
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If you knew what life was worth, you
would look for yours on earth. --Bob Marley
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