Four more people are sick in connection with an E. coli outbreak linked to contaminated ground beef from Wolverine Packing Co. in Detroit, leading to a nationwide recall of more than 160,000 pounds of the meat and bringing the total number of cases to 15.
A double cheeseburger, fries and soda.
The Department of Agriculture this week said four more cases of E. coli-related illnesses in Minnesota have been reported from burgers containing contaminated ground beef served at Red Cow restaurant locations and the Hen House Eatery in Minneapolis.
The news of additional cases comes days after the Minnesota Department of Health confirmed 11 people got sick eating the contaminated meat between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7.
Wolverine Packing Co. has since recalled 167,277 pounds of beef shipped to restaurants nationwide.Restaurants are urged to check their refrigerators and freezers for and throw away any of the impacted packages.
The strain of E. Coli associated with the ground beef contamination is the same one, E. coli O157:H7, that was linked to a contamination of onions in some McDonald’s Quarter Pounders in October (that outbreak sickened more than 100 people).
The ground beef contamination is not related to a nationwide recall of carrots from Saturday also linked to a recent E. Coli outbreak that killed one and sickened dozens of people across multiple states, including in Minnesota.
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E. Coli, or Escherichia coli, is a type of bacteria that most commonly finds its way into food through improper handling, contaminated water or during processing. People and animals carry E. coli, and it is most commonly spread either person to person or when people accidentally consume invisible amounts of human or animal feces. Most infected people get better on their own in five to 10 days, but 5% to 10% of people can develop a life-threatening condition that most commonly impacts children and the elderly. The particular strain of E. Coli linked to the onion and ground beef recalls causes a severe intestinal infection in humans, according to Johns Hopkins. It is the most common strain to cause illness in people and contains a potent toxin that damages the lining of the intestinal wall, causing bloody diarrhea. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports about 70,000 cases of E. coli O157:H7 in the United States each year.
The E. Coli outbreak linked to slivered onions served with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder burgers led to a halt in onion use at some fast food restaurants before the contamination was traced back to California-based food producer Taylor Farms. Fast food giants have since resumed sales of items with onions and there appears to be no continued food safety concern. An E. Coli outbreak linked to carrots, however, is ongoing and is continuing to spark new recalls. On Thursday, Whole Foods recalled its brand name organic carrot sticks and organic carrot and celery stick packs, and on Wednesday the brand Fabalish recalled its Kickin’ Carrot Falafel Bites sold across the country because they may contain the contaminated carrots. That outbreak has been linked to bags of organic and baby carrots sold by Grimmway Farms under brand names like Trader Joe's, Sprouts, Nature's Promise and Wegmans. Forty people from 18 states had been affected by the outbreak as of Sunday, with 15 hospitalizations and one death.