Jeremy Shapiro at the Emporia Gazette says that the retail stores where Tyson’s E. coli O157:H7 contaminated ground beef was sold have not gotten much of it back, after Tyson’s September 27, 2011 recall of over 131,000 pounds.  The contaminated beef caused an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak in and around Butler County, Ohio in September.

Grocery stores haven’t seen much Tyson ground beef returned to them following a recall Sept. 27 stemming from E. coli being discovered in a sample in Ohio.

The beef in question was processed in Emporia Aug. 23 though it came from elsewhere.

“To date, some small quantities of the product have been returned and destroyed at the store level,” said Worth Sparkman, manager of public relations for Tyson. “Given the use by dates, it is likely most of the affected product has been consumed.”

A sample of the product analyzed by the Ohio Department of Health was found to contain E. coli O157:H7.

Ground beef has a notorious association with E. coli O157:H7.  Difficult to cook, easy to cross-contaminate, and even easier to stick in the freezer for a few months or longer and not realize that a recall has happened.  Hopefully the retail locations that sold these products have made an effort to contact every person who purchased the product.