970828 Hudson Foods Inc. Recalling More Hamburger
August 14, 1997
Hudson Foods Inc. said Wednesday it is recalling another 20,000 pounds of ground beef that may be infected with E. coli bacteria and were delivered to Burger King and Boston Market, the Omaha World-Herald reported Thursday.
Hudson, based in Rogers, Ark, said Tuesday it was recalling 20,000 pounds of suspected frozen patties that it had distributed to retail stores and warehouse clubs in 35 states in June and July.
The 40,000 pounds of possibly tainted meat is believed to have all been produced in a Hudson processing plant in Columbus, Jacque Knight, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Inspection Service in Washington, told the newspaper.
Kim Miller, a spokeswoman for the Burger King chain office in Miami, Fla., said her company has voluntarily recalled ground meat produced at the Columbus plant from 1,205 restaurants in its central and western regions, including Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and Colorado.
Jeff Beckman, a spokesman for Golden, Colo.-based Boston Chicken Inc., said the comparatively small amount of meat his company received from the Columbus plant has already moved through the chain's restaurants. He said the meat "most likely" was shipped to restaurants on both coasts.
The USDA said it learned about the problem from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment after it received reports that about 20 people became ill after eating the Hudson product in early July.
There have been no E. coli illness in Nebraska linked to the meat, said Dr. Thomas Safranek, Nebraska state epidemiologist.
Hudson, the nation's third-largest publicly traded poultry company, opened the $28 million Columbus plant in September 1995. At the time, Hudson said the plant would produce three million pounds of hamburger a week for Burger King.
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