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Federal team begins hamburger plant probe
Inspectors search for source
August 18, 1997
of E. coli that led to recall
Web posted at: 1:13 p.m. EDT (1713 GMT)COLUMBUS, Nebraska (CNN) -- A federal team began inspecting the Hudson Foods processing plant here Monday, trying to determine what caused an outbreak of E. coli bacteria that led to a massive recall of hamburger patties.
Tests at the plant will continue for 15 work shifts, said U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary Cathy Woteki.
A look inside a Hudson factory, where hamburger meat might have been contaminated. CNN's Eugenia Halsey reports:
230K/20 sec. QuickTime movie
The department last week announced the recall of 1.2 million pounds of ground-beef patties processed at Hudson's Columbus, Nebraska, facility on June 4, June 5 and June 9.
Sixteen people reportedly became ill from eating the patties.
Contamination from outside source?
Inspectors said they would look into the possibility that the contamination was brought into the hamburger processing facility from an outside source.
"It more than likely may have come in on some raw ingredients," said USDA inspector Jesse Majkowski as he and two government inspection teams prepared to enter the plant on Monday. "More than likely that is where the contamination could have occurred."
However, Majkowski said if the plant was not following all sanitation procedures, that could have contributed to the spread of the E. coli contamination.
He said inspectors will be looking at the plants' processing procedures and tracing supplies to their source.
Majkowski said it probably would be at least two weeks before the inspection team completed its work and issued a report.
Hudson Foods has said it will cooperate fully with the inspectors.
"Our interest lies in learning the facts, determining the cause and in protecting the public," said James T. Hudson, chairman of Rogers, Arkansas-based Hudson Foods Inc.
Hudson said his company will do its own "full and aggressive" investigation to determine the source of the contamination.
He declined to identify the company's main sources for beef but said the Nebraska plant was not processing meat from sources outside the United States in early June.
- Consumer News - Fitness and Health - Warnings
- Consumer News - Fitness and Health - Safety
- Consumer News - Food - Meat
Related stories:
- USDA conducting in-depth inspection at beef plant - August 17, 1997
- Bad beef sickens fewer people this time - August 16, 1997
- Recall of frozen hamburger patties doubles - August 14, 1997
- Beef recalled for possible E.coli contamination - August 12, 1997
Related sites:
Note: Pages will open in a new browser window
- USDA's Home Page
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Home Page
- Safe Tables Our Priority (STOP) - a non-profit organization devoted to victim assistance, public education, and policy advocacy for safe food and public health
- FDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition
- The E. coli Index
- E. coli Primer
- E. coli Information Page
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