The JBS Swift E. coli O157:H7 beef recall has essentially touched every state in the union. According to the retail list provided by the FSIS, if your state has a Sam’s Club, you have had JBS Swift Recalled meat sold in your state. Costco, Kroger’s, BiLo and numerous other grocery chains have distributed meats all over the US from Florida to Alaska. But it hasn’t just affected big retailers; small grocers have been included as well.
Some states have been hit harder than others. When you look at the FSIS retail lists certain places jump out at you. California seems to be the hardest hit with 569 retail locations that carried the contaminated beef products. Other states that have big lists of retailers include Missouri with 376, Texas with 328, Florida with 108, Kansas with 126, Pennsylvania with 131 and Wisconsin with 130. But these are the states that have the most retailers. The retail distribution lists include grocers in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont and Washington. The numbers of states keep going up as more and more information is made available.
With the passing of the Fourth of July, I would like to believe that all the products associated with this recall or contaminated by these recalled products never reached the tables of the US consumers. But when you look at the FSIS’s numbers on recalled versus recovered food, there are some troubling statistics. In 2007, we saw a spike in recalled products with over 142 million pounds recalled; the recall recovery effort netted just about 1.65 million pounds of product. That is just over 1% of the contaminated food recovered. Even in the best years, anywhere from 25% to 75% of the recalled products never make it back to the manufacturer and are lost in the consumers refrigerators and freezers.
The scope of the JBS Swift recall cannot be understated. 380,000 pounds of beef have been recalled because of E. coli O157:H7 contamination. E. coli O157:H7 is a devastating food borne illness. As little as ten bacteria can cause an infection. The bacteria are odorless, tasteless and impossible to detect in food without the use of a laboratory. When illness onsets, the symptoms include bloody diarrhea accompanied with abdominal cramping, nausea, vomiting, dehydration and headache, all of which can be severe.
In the worst cases, E. coli O157:H7 can cause hemolytic uremic syndrome or HUS. HUS is a rare blood disease that can cause damage to organ systems, most commonly the kidneys. If the disease isn’t caught in time, it can even be fatal. Children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems are at the most risk of contracting HUS. Simply, those who are our most vulnerable citizens are at the most risk of E. coli O157:H7 sickness and complications.
Stay tuned as we will continue to provide JBS Swift recall information and updates as they develop. We will also continue to provide those injured by JBS Swift with the help they deserve.
