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Law Firm Calls on Kroger to Recall Ground Beef

By Pritzker | Ruohonen

According to the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH), more than half of the 15 people sickened in the current Michigan E. coli outbreak reported buying and eating ground beef from Kroger grocery stores. Also,a raw ground beef sample provided by an Ohio E. coli O157:H7 case is linked by genetic fingerprinting to the multistate outbreak in Ohio and Michigan. Test results released today verify the E. coli present in the beef sample shares the same genetic fingerprint with the bacteria that has sickened 19 Ohioans in recent weeks. Information submitted with the positive beef sample indicates the product was purchased at the Kroger Marketplace in Gahanna, Ohio.  We just checked with the USDA-FSIS, and there is not yet a Kroger ground beef recall.

This is reminiscent of USDA-FSIS foot dragging with the Topps ground beef recall. In that case, although tests linked an E coli illness in Florida to Topps hamburgers in early September, USDA-FSIS delayed a recall for 18 days while it ran additional tests of Topps beef.

It is extremely likely that many people have ground beef in their freezers that was purchased at the Kroger stores purchased by those sickened in the  Michigan E. coli and Ohio E. coli outbreak.  This outbreak has 24 confirmed cases and more cases awaiting confirmation. Fourteen people have been hospitalized and one person has developed hemolytic uremic syndrome (kidney failure). An immediate Kroger recall would most likely prevent further illness.

We call on Kroger to recall all ground beef that may be contaminated. It is the company’s corporate responsibility to prevent further illness.

To contact Fred Pritzker, managing attorney for our E. coli litigation cases, please call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free), email Fred Pritzker or submit the firm's free case consultation form (reviewed by Fred Pritzker).

Full post as published by Food Poisoning Law Blog on June 25, 2008 (boomark / email).