Ground beef contaminated with salmonella is quickly becoming a products liability concern for one Fresno-based meat packing company.

Beef Packers Inc., which is owned by Cargill, a food producer and marketer, announced a products liability recall on December 4, 2009 of about 23,000 pounds of ground beef sent to stores in Arizona and New Mexico — the company’s second recall this year.

Our firm’s San Diego personal injury lawyers  are concerned when recalls of large amounts of food are issued.  Earlier this year, Colorado-based meat packing company JBS Swift issued a similar recall after 41,000 pounds of meat was found to be tainted with E. coli.

When large amounts of a single product are being made, even a small amount of bacteria can taint an entire supply of food product.  The ground beef produced at Beef Packers Inc. had traces of a drug-resistant strain of salmonella that is resistant to antibiotics.

The strain of salmonella, called Salmonella Newport, can cause wrongful death, especially to young children, people with weak immune systems and the elderly.  Symptoms are similar to all other strains of salmonella (i.e. diarrhea, fever and vomiting).

Safeway grocery stores announced the recall affects ground beef sold at stores in Arizona and one outlet in Gallup, New Mexico.  Recalled products include fresh ground beef, meat balls, beef patties and stuffed peppers with “sell by” dates of September 28th through October 11.

Our firm’s personal injury attorneys know that mistakes like these happen every once in a while.  After Beef Packers Inc. issued a recall of product in August, did the plant take extra steps to prevent further contamination?  If not, hopefully changes are made so that a third recall won’t be necessary down the road.

Call us now at 1-800-655-6585 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer and find out how we can help you.  We speak English and Spanish, and we look forward to providing advice for your case.   No fee if no recovery.

About Michael Pines

Michael Pines is a former insurance company attorney who specializes in car accident injury. While he was an insurance attorney, he learned from behind the scenes on how insurance companies work and how they decided to pay injured people. Now that he works against insurance companies, Michael's inside knowledge has resulted in significant benefits to his clients injured in car accidents.