HOUSTON – Lakeside Refrigerated Services, a Swedesboro, N.J. establishment, is recalling approximately 120,872 pounds of ground beef products shipped nationwide that may be contaminated with E. coli O103, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Monday.
The ground beef products were produced from Feb. 1, 2022, through April 8, 2022. The complete list of products and product codes for the beef products that are subject to recall can be found here. Labels for the ground beef products can be found here.
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The products subject to recall bear establishment number “EST. 46841″ inside the USDA mark of inspection. These items were shipped to retail locations nationwide.
FSIS is concerned that some products may be in consumers’ refrigerators or freezers. Consumers who have purchased these products are urged not to consume them. These products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
The problem was discovered during routine FSIS testing of imported products. There have been no confirmed reports of illness or adverse reactions due to consumption of these products.
The USDA noted, “Many clinical laboratories do not test for non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) such as O103 because it is harder to identify than STEC O157:H7. People can become ill from STECs 2–8 days (average of 3–4 days) after consuming the organism.”
Most people infected with STEC O103 develop diarrhea and vomiting. Some illnesses last longer and can be more severe. Infection is usually diagnosed by testing of a stool sample. Vigorous rehydration and other supportive care is the usual treatment; antibiotic treatment is generally not recommended. Most people recover within a week, but, rarely, some develop a more severe infection. Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a type of kidney failure, is uncommon with STEC O103 infection. HUS can occur in people of any age but is most common in children under 5 years old, older adults and persons with weakened immune systems. It is marked by easy bruising, pallor and decreased urine output. People who experience these symptoms should seek emergency medical care immediately, the USDA said via a news release.
FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers. When available, the retail distribution list(s) will be posted on the FSIS website at www.fsis.usda.gov/recalls.
Consumers with questions regarding the recall can contact Lakeside Refrigerated Services at 800-493-9042 or customercare@lakesiderefrigerated.com.
Consumers with food safety questions can call the toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline at 888-MPHotline (888-674-6854) or live chat via Ask USDA from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Consumers can also browse food safety messages at Ask USDA or send a question via email to MPHotline@usda.gov. For consumers that need to report a problem with a meat, poultry, or egg product, the online Electronic Consumer Complaint Monitoring System can be accessed 24 hours a day at https://foodcomplaint.fsis.usda.gov/eCCF/.