Outbreaks
National Steak and Poultry E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak
E. coli O157:H7 illnesses in six states - Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, South Dakota and Washington - were determined by investigators from the CDC and state and local health departments to be linked to meat products from National Steak and Poultry in November and December of 2009, and into January of 2010. National Steak & Poultry recalled approximately 248,000 pounds of beef products due to potential E. coli contamination after the E. coli outbreak was traced to its tenderized steak products.On January 6, 2010, the CDC released information on the 21 persons infected with the outbreak strain of E. coli O157:H7. The number of ill persons who were identified in the following 16 states: CA (1), CO (1), FL (1), HI (1), IA (1), IN (1), KS (1), MI (1), MN (3), NV (1), OH (2), OK (1), SD (2), TN (1), UT (2), and WA (1).
Although most E. coli outbreaks in meat are lined to ground beef, this recall was for "non-intact steaks", meaning meats that were blade tenderized before further processing. This has long been seen as a potential safety problem, as tenderizing blades can drive E. coli bacteria which might be on the outside of the steak into the meat.
