CHICAGO - IBP Inc said it resumed beef production Monday at the former Hudson Foods Inc (HFI) plant, which had been closed since August when beef from that plant was suspected of containing a deadly strain of E.coli bacteria.
In late August, Hudson Foods recalled 25 million lbs of frozen beef patties because of possible contamination, making it the largest meat recall in history. The plant was closed then and later sold to IBP Inc.
IBP renamed the plant Platte County Processed Meats and was operating one shift using about 130 of the 230 former Hudson employees, said IBP spokesman Gary Mickelson.
"As our customer base grows, so will our production and employment levels," said Mickelson. Other former Hudson employees either left or were offered jobs at other IBP plants.
The plant produces ground beef that will be sold domestically.
Also this week, the Nebraska Cattlemen's Association defended beef's safety by saying only a small portion of E.coli 0157:H7 outbreaks were linked to beef. Citing data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the association's president-elect, Alan Janzen, said in a release, that of the 29 outbreaks of E.coli in 1996, only four were related to beef. The rest were linked to other foods or to person-to-person transmission, or swimming.
Janzen said 10,000 to 20,000 people sickened annually by E.coli, was small when compared with the hundreds of deaths and hundreds of thousands made ill annually by Salmonella.
Nebraska is the nation's leading beef state and leading beef exporter, the association said. The state's beef industry generates about $5.5 billion in revenues annually.
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