Photo: KATU
New Seasons Market has expanded its recall of fresh ground beef sold at Portland-area stores after new tests show some of the meat contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 was available for sale as recently as Nov. 8.
New Seasons is recommending customers who bought the ground beef between Oct. 19 and Nov. 8 return the recalled product for a full refund; receipts are not required for the return. Consumers with questions may contact the company at talktous@newseasonsmarket.com.
An additional illness, closely associated with one of the three confirmed illnesses, has been identified. That brings the total number of people who reported illness after eating ground beef purchased at different New Seasons outlets to four. All have recovered.
The implicated products include New Seasons Market’s fresh in-house ground beef and ground beef products sold at all New Seasons Markets Oregon, Washington and California locations, in bulk from the meat cases and packaged from grab and go cases. The ground beef and ground beef products are marked with three days' shelf life from purchase. The recalled products were sold with “Packed On” dates of Oct. 19, 2019, to Nov. 8, 2019, and “Sell By” dates starting Oct. 23, 2019, up to and including Nov. 11, 2019.
OHA identified the outbreak after tests conducted at the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory determined that an identical strain of E. coli O157:H7 was present in all three patients. On Nov. 13 OHA received preliminary laboratory results of tests on product samples that were positive for E. coli O157:H7.
New Seasons Market has suspended sale of the product while the Oregon Department of Agriculture and OHA continue their investigation into the cause of the outbreak.
To be sure all bacteria in ground beef are destroyed, cook it to a safe minimum internal temperature of at least 160 F (71.1 C). Use a food thermometer to check that they have reached a safe internal temperature.
E. coli O157:H7 causes a diarrheal illness often with bloody stools. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). The condition is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly, and it can lead to serious kidney damage and even death.
People who ate the product but did not get sick do not need to do anything. If you developed diarrhea after eating it, you should consult your health care provider and tell him or her about the exposure.
Source: Oregon Health Authority