Outbreaks
United Food Group E. coli Outbreak
On June 3, 2007, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that United Food Group, LLC (UFG), of Vernon, California, was recalling 75,000 pounds of ground beef due to potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination. The ground beef subject to recall had been produced by UFG on April 20, and was distributed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon, and Utah. The recall was the result of a joint investigation into an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak by Colorado and California health officials in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).After additional testing and additional reported illnesses, UFG expanded the recall on June 6 to include 370,000 pounds of ground beef produced between April 13 and April 20 that was distributed in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, new Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. On June 9, 2007, UFG expanded two previous ground beef recalls to include over 5.7 million pounds of meat products that were potentially contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The recall expansion came after the California Department of Health Services, the Colorado Department of Health, and the CDC reported 14 illnesses associated with consumption of UFG ground beef – 6 in Arizona, 3 in California, 2 in Colorado, 1 in Idaho, 1 in Utah, and 1 in Wyoming.
