Company recalls beef linked to Va. E. coli cases

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A food company voluntarily recalled frozen ground beef Thursday that has been linked to 27 confirmed cases of E. coli at a Boy Scout camp in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

S&S Foods of Azusa, Calif., said it is recalling 153,630 pounds of beef that may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7.

That strain has been linked by the Virginia Department of Health to the E. coli outbreak at the Goshen Scout Reservation, a popular summer destination for Washington-area Scouts for four decades.

Seventy scouts and staff have reported intestinal symptoms consistent with E. coli contamination. One camper remains hospitalized.

As a precaution, the camp has been closed.

Testing by Virginia public health officials confirmed the beef was linked to the outbreak.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the Virginia outbreak, which happened in late July, is the only one linked to the beef.

The beef was packaged at S&S's Azusa plant and sold to institutional customers throughout the U.S., Jeff Grohs, vice president of business development for S&S, said in an e-mail.

Grohs said the company is attempting to determine whether the "illnesses in Virginia are connected to our operations or have some other original source or cause."

The USDA's food safety agency rated the recall "Class I," meaning the toxin-producing E. coli strain presents a "health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death."

The federal food safety agency said its investigation is looking into how the meat was contaminated.

The products subject to recall are: 30-pound boxes of "742798 MFST, 100% GROUND BEEF BULK, 80/20, 1LB. BRICK."

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Food Safety and Inspection Services: http://www.fsis.usda.gov