More Beef Recalled, From Sam's Club

Warehouse Chain Pulls Beef Patties Nationwide After E. Coli Illnesses Reported In Minnesota

(CBS/AP)  The Sam's Club warehouse chain has pulled a brand of ground beef patties from its shelves nationwide after four children who ate the food, produced by Cargill Inc., developed E. coli illness.

Cargill asked customers to return any remaining patties purchased after Aug. 26 to the store or destroy them.

The children became ill between Sept. 10 and Sept. 20 after eating ground beef patties that were bought frozen under the name American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties from three Sam's Club stores in the Twin Cities area.

One girl has been in the hospital for two weeks.

"These ground beef patties are in people's freezers, in their homes, so we want to get the word out so that they definitely don’t eat them - throw them away or take them back to Sam's Club for a refund," Dr. Kirk Smith of the Minnesota Dept. of Health told CBS affiliate WCCO.

This isn’t just affecting Minnesota Sam's Club stores, said WCCO correspondent Jason DeRusha; the chain has voluntarily pulled the product off of shelves across the nation.

"We can't be certain that meat from other stores is not involved, since the brand ... was likely sold at other Sam's Club locations," said Heidi Kassenborg, acting director of the dairy and food inspection division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

Cargill, based in Wayzata, Minnesota, is one of the largest privately held U.S. companies and makes food ingredients, moves commodities around the world and runs financial commodities trading businesses.

The patties were produced by Cargill and had an expiration date of Feb. 12, 2008, Sam's Club said in a statement. Cargill spokesman Mark Klein said the company has been cooperating with state Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine the scope of the issue.

Cargill learned of the issue Friday, when a compliance officer from the federal Agriculture Department visited the company's ground beef facility in Butler, Wisconsin, Klein said. Officials had traced the patties back to that plant.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is working with the federal Agriculture Department to determine the source of the contamination.

Symptoms of E. coli illness include stomach cramps and diarrhea. People typically are ill for two to five days but can develop complications including kidney failure.

Sam's Club warehouse is owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The company issued a statement which read in part, "We want our Members to know we are doing all that we can to resolve this matter with our supplier and the appropriate agencies."

[cpaide]

Posted by mdc76082 at 08:17 PM : Oct 06, 2007

Sounds like yo mamma been buying you lead-paint toys and sh@t-flavored hamburger at Wal-Mart and Sam''s Club. If you run out of that stuff, I''ll be happy to send you as much as you like. cheers, my little boo-hoo!

[usayesterday]

How about a "Recall Match Game"...

Match the following companies with the recalled reasons:

Ford.............Lead poisoning

Mattel...........E Coli

Topps Beef.......Faulty wiring


Good luck!

[usayesterday]

Products recalled the most in 2007:

Ford(s)
toys from China
ground beef

Man, it would really suckk to be a Ford owner who loves hamburgers and shops at WalMart for toys for your kids!

We consumers constantly want more for le$$, and this is what we get in return.

On the other side, however, how can one justify spending twice as much for a product, (a mattress pad for example), that is made in America? Especially if the foreign made mattress pad has the exact same material specifications, (ie. 100% cotton, 200 thread-count, etc.).

Would spending more discretionary income on American made products, from our middle-income wages, bring back the manufacturing into our country? Somehow, I doubt it highly. Especially when the "XYZ" company realizes that profit margins are many times higher when you only have to pay pennies-on-the-dollar per hour for labor overseas!

[conserva-2009]

As I say on my ''meatless music'' CD, the ''hunters'' in America stalk grocery stores, armed with a debit card. Not much of a sport. I really don''t think about what others do--or want to push my way. I only say that if you even think you might want to look at going meatless...check out my CD.

www.vegantunes.com

[dbl06]

Deregulation came into prominence with Ronald Reagan, whose policies now continue to plague us. Abraham Lincoln said, paraphrasing, "The role of govt is to do for the people that which they(The People)can''t do for themselves". More and better qualified govt meat inspectors at the slaughter houses and meat packing houses will significantly reduce the incidence of e-coli. Case Closed!!!

[gkc99]

Goodness gracious, CBS censors r*e*c*t*u*m ! My momma always said that was the polite word!

[gkc99]

"Isn''''t the American Chefs company (Cargill) responsible?
Wal-mart can''''t police everything and this one certainly isn''''t their fault."
--Posted by hypnotoad72


Yes Cargill is responsible, and so is Wal-Mart. WM is in the chain of commerce and sells the material for a profit. Thus they share in the liability. If they''re smart, their contract with Cargill provides them with indemnity.


Want to avoid contaminated hamburger?--don''t buy ground meat! Buy your own chuck, then clean it--the kosher rules work well: wash, dry, salt, and let stand, then peel off the surface coating with a knife, and grind it using your own meat grinder under sterile (we hope) conditions in your own kitchen.

And no more freeway fast food burgers either! They all have ground beef *** in them.

Problem solved!

[brianbwb-2009]

OK, the censor bot caught me, I would say "faeces", but I doubt if they understand that one either.

[brianbwb-2009]

Instead of the latin E. Coli, which sadly enough, most Americans have not been sufficiently educated to understand, why not just call it ***, so all the right wing rednecks can understand what the extreme profit chase endorsed by the "trickle downers" with their "loosened regulations" is allowing to enter the food you pay good money for...

[mdc76082]

afcma, you''re such a red-diaper doper baby.