Food Safety

California organic beef producer recalls meat over E. coli concerns


January 3, 2011
10:47 am

There’s nothing that dampens your New Year's appetite like a food-safety recall, particularly one for an organic ground-beef product.

Federal officials announced Monday that First Class Foods Inc., an organic beef producer based in Hawthorne, has recalled 34,373 pounds of organic ground beef and hamburger patties due to concern that they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, kidney failure or, in the most severe cases, death.

There have been no reports of illness connected to these products, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service and the company. The bacterium was found during a routine company test of its facilities, according to the FSIS.     Read More

There have been plenty of misconceptions about different types of food production methods.  Specifically in beef production there are some that have tried to convince consumers that organic production makes for safer beef.  Regardless of how beef cattle are raised there are going to be E. Coli that live in the digestive tract of the cattle.  When we harvest cattle, regardless of the production method used to raise them, precautions must be taken to ensure no contamination takes place.  This is true for all types of food coming from all types of production methods.