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Merced Firm Slams Slaughterhouse for Contaminated Meat

by Medindia Content Team on Apr 23 2007 7:07 PM

Children in St Helena and Calistoga fell sick after eating hamburgers. These hamburger patties were distributed by the food company Merced. The firm recalled all the patties from the market and has put the blame on the slaughter house that has processed the meat.

The meat has been infected with E coli bacteria. Over the past few days there has been major recall of red meat from the market which seemed to have been infected with these bacteria. This has caused a furor among the consumers. The Richwood firm E-coli is one of the most important cause of food borne sickness in the united states .The infection is caused when the food is not cooked properly. Eating rare or medium rare steak can cause it. Even lack of proper hygiene, like not washing hands after touching the meat, too can spread the bacteria to another person. It comes from the stomach or the fecal matter of the cow. Thus it can spread only from the level of the slaughter house.

E-coli are deadly bacteria. It can cause dehydration and diarrhea. Children and the elderly with poor immune system are more susceptible to the diseases. The symptoms show after 3-4 days of exposure.

The Rich wood company which distributed frozen meat is at loss as to how it could have happened and are having a tough time answering the calls. They usually receive raw meat from suppliers, which is then processed to form hamburger patties. Though there are inspectors to check the meat that comes in but only a small portioned is checked so a contaminated portion is missed out. E- coli can survive in frozen conditions too.

The children who ate the burger tested positive as found by a physician from Kaiser Permanente. This was the reason for the recall of all beef products by the company as a precautionary measure. The recalled products are Fire River, Chef's Pride, Ritz Food, Blackwood Farms, California Pacific Associates, C&C Distributing, Goblin and Richwood.

The bacteria would die if the meat is cooked properly.

Source-Medindia
BIN/V


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