The USDA-FSIS has updated the information about Montclair Meat Co’s 53,000 pound ground beef recall due to potential E. coli O157:H7 contamination.  The original recall occurred on May 15, 2010, and FSIS’s recall announcement indicated that the product had been distributed to Los Angeles area retailers.  FSIS’s amended notice from today indicates that the recalled meat was distributed on a slightly wider basis; to wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, and other institutions in the Los Angeles area.  FSIS has not released a list of specific locations where the recalled ground beef was sent. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that every year at least 2000 Americans are hospitalized, and about 60 die as a direct result of E. coli infection and its complications. A recent study estimated the annual cost of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses to be $405 million (in 2003 dollars), which included $370 million for premature deaths, $30 million for medical care, and $5 million for lost productivity (Frenzen, Drake, and Angulo, 2005).