On September 25, 2007, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced that Topps Meat Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was recalling 331,582 pounds of frozen ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7. The company's ground beef products had been identified as the source of an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak among residents of New York, Connecticut, Indiana, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
At least six people in New York became ill with E. coli infections after eating Topps Meats' ground beef. Investigations into these illnesses by the New York Department of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) led to a recall of the beef.
By September 29, 2007, Topps Meats had expanded the recall to a total of 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef products produced on various dates between September 25, 2006 and September 25, 2007. On October 11, 2007, the CDC announced that 38 confirmed illnesses had been tied to the outbreak in 9 states: Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.
FSIS issued an outbreak update on October 26, 2007, and announced that a joint investigation between FSIS and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had identified meat trim provided to Topps by Canadian company Ranchers Beef Ltd. as the source of the outbreak.
Marler Clark filed two lawsuits against Topps. Both lawsuits were filed in New York - one in Albany, and one in Ithaca. The lawsuits were filed on behalf of families with children who were hospitalized after eating Topps hamburgers and becoming ill with E. coli infections. The firm also represented victims of this outbreak from Pennsylvania and other states.
The firm has resolved all cases.
2007 Ground Beef E. coli Outbreak & Recall Victim from Marlerclark on Vimeo.