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Butler County case prompts beef recall

1 of 4 sickened siblings was hospitalized for 10 days with E. coli.

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By Mark Fisher and Rick McCrabb, Staff Writers 10:03 PM Wednesday, September 28, 2011

A 9-year-old Butler County boy who was hospitalized for 10 days was among four siblings whose illnesses ultimately prompted the national recall of 131,300 pounds of ground beef for possible contamination by E. coli bacteria, health and agriculture officials announced Wednesday.

The three siblings also became sick but did not require hospitalization, according to Pat Burg, director of the Butler County Health Department.

Burg declined to say where the family lives or where the child was hospitalized. She said the boy was hospitalized with severe diarrhea.

She said the meat produced by Tyson Fresh Meats was purchased at a Kroger store at 560 Wessel Drive in Fairfield.

The Kroger Co. on Wednesday asked customers of its Dayton-area and Cincinnati-area stores to check their refrigerators and freezers for five-pound chubs of Kroger Ground Beef labeled 73% Lean 27% Fat, and Kroger Beef Patties with a “best before or freeze by” date of Sept. 12, 2011. Customers should return those recalled products to their local Kroger for a full refund.

The illnesses began between Sept. 8 and Sept. 11. Health officials on Sept. 19 collected leftover ground beef from some of the afflicted residents’ homes, analyzed it, and discovered that the beef tested positive for E. coli O157:H7.

The bacteria can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure, the USDA said.

A full list of specific groceries and other retail stores that may have sold the beef has not yet been released. The 131,000 pounds of beef is being recalled by Tyson Fresh Meats Inc., based in Emporia, Kan.

Tyson said on its website Wednesday that it shipped the affected ground beef to retail customers Kroger, Food Lion, SAV-A-LOT, Spectrum Foods, Supervalu and the Defense Commissary Agency, at distribution centers in Ohio, Indiana, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

Kroger has removed the remaining beef subject to recall from store shelves and initiated its customer recall notification system, company officials said.

Customers who may have purchased the affected products will receive register receipt messages or automated phone calls, company officials said. Kroger also is placing signs in stores in meat departments.

Federal food-safety officials said they are concerned that consumers may have frozen the ground beef before use and that some of the beef may remain in consumers’ freezers.

The USDA advises consumers to eat only ground beef that has been cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees, a temperature high enough to kill harmful bacteria.

Based on a retail price of $2.89 per pound, the beef recall has a retail value of $379,457.

The Butler County Health Department has set up an after-hours hot line. That number is (513) 887-4161.

Kroger customers who have questions about the recall may contact Kroger toll free at (800) 576-4377. For more information from the producer, contact Tyson Consumer Relations at 866-328-3156.

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