News Alert: Local Schools May Have Served Beef Being Recalled for Contamination With E. Coli

Lebec (Wednesday, Feb. 24, 5 p.m.)— The Mountain Enterprise issue for February 26 will be in distribution Thursday, Feb. 25 with this report: *

Recalled Beef Not a Worry, El Tejon Schools Chief Says
By Patric Hedlund

On Friday, Feb. 19 the Kern County Department of Public Health sounded the alarm about 4.9 million pounds of beef products being recalled by Huntington Meat Packing company. A criminal investigation is underway regarding meat products potentially contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7 at that plant.

The Mountain Enterprise confirmed Monday, Feb. 22 that El Tejon Unified School District ordered product from this source in August, received it in October, then cooked and served it in December as school lunch burritos to El Tejon School, Frazier Park School and Frazier Mountain High School.

ETUSD’s Acting Superintendent Danny Whetton said the meat came through a co-op purchasing agent long before the recall alert. No illness has been reported.

Whetton said that Carleen Ekstrom, in charge of food preparation for the district, “follows protocols very carefully, to be sure meat is always cooked to 160 degrees internal temperature to eliminate any risk. The best thing we can do is to follow protocols to be sure the risk is eliminated,” Whetton said.

Lebec (Monday, Feb. 22, 8:40 p.m.)—Community reporter John Delmos has alerted us that a Bakersfield television station has reported that El Tejon Unified School District has used beef in school lunches that is included in the recall. The Mountain Enterprise does not have independent confirmation of this report. We have asked school officials for comment and are seeking verification from the Kern County Health Department.

According to the unconfirmed report, the beef was used in burritos served about two weeks ago. There are batches of ground beef and burrito filling products in the list of recalled products below. Cooking beef to 160 degrees internal temperature is suggested to kill contaminants such as E.coli.

This is a news release from Matthew Constantine, Kern County Director of Public Health

BAKERSFIELD – Kern County Public Health Services announced Friday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m. that Huntington Meat Packing delivered meat potentially contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7 to Kern County. The investigation is still ongoing to determine which schools, restaurants and food establishments may have received the product. The Kern County Superintendent of Schools and all school districts have been notified and are taking appropriate action.

Huntington Meat Packing, a Southern California meat packing firm, has expanded its recall of ground beef and veal potentially contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7, which includes approximately 4.9 million pounds of products by Huntington Meat Packing under the Huntington, Imperial Meat and El Rancho brands. The original recall, announced Jan. 18, was for 864,000 pounds of meat.

E. coli is a potentially deadly germ that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in severe cases, kidney failure. The germ can be killed by cooking fresh and frozen meat products to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

There have been no reports of illnesses at this time associated with consumption of the Huntington products, the food safety agency said.

The original recall was expanded based on evidence collected in an ongoing criminal investigation.

Inspectors found the products were prepared in a manner that did not follow rules to prevent food safety hazards, officials said.

The products subject to recall include:

  • Boxes of “USDA CHOICE OR HIGHER. Bnls [Boneless] Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/DN S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of ‘21852.”
  • Boxes of “USDA CHOICE OR HIGHER. Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/UP S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “21853.”
  • Boxes of “Swift. Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/DN S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “31852.”
  • Boxes of “Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/UP S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “31853.”
  • Boxes of “Swift, USDA SELECT, Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin. Butt Ball Tip 2/DN S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “33852.”
  • Boxes of “USDA SELECT, Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/UP S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “33853.”
  • Boxes of “BLACK ANGUS, Swift Premium, BEEF, USDA CHOICE OR HIGHER, Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/UP S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “41853.”
  • Boxes of “BLACK ANGUS. Swift Premium, BEEF. USDA CHOICE OR HIGHER, Bnls Beef Bottom Sirioin, Butt Ball Tip 2/UP S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “41853.”
  • Boxes of “Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/DN S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, an identifying package date of “042109” and a case code of ‘79852.”
  • Boxes of “Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/UP S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, an identifying package date of “042109” and a case code of “79853.”
  • Boxes of “USDA CHOICE OR HIGHER, Bnls Beef Bottom Sirloin, Butt Ball Tip 2/UP S/T.” Each box bears the establishment number “EST. 969” inside the USDA mark of inspection, identifying package dates of “042109” or “042209” and a case code of “90853.”

The community is reminded to cook all ground beef and hamburger thoroughly. Because ground beef can turn brown during cooking before disease-causing bacteria are killed, use a digital instant-read meat thermometer to ensure thorough cooking. Ground beef should be cooked until a thermometer inserted into several parts of the patty, including the thickest part, reads at least 160 degrees F.

Persons who cook ground beef without using a thermometer can decrease their risk of illness by not eating ground beef patties that are still pink in the middle.

For more information, the public is encouraged to visit www.kernpublichealth.com.

This is part of the February 19, 2010 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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