At least one case of E. coli O157:H7 has been linked to ground beef sold at the Costco store in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. The link was determined by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS). Prompted by this illness, Costco issued a recall of 383 units of 88% lean fresh ground beef (88/12). It bears the Costco item number 33724 under the Costco label. This product was sold directly to 342 consumers in a Costco located at 12547 Riverdale Blvd., Coon Rapids, Minn., between Sept. 4 and Sept. 7.
E. coli lawyer Fred Pritzker and team are investigating the Costco ground beef E. coli recall. You can contact Fred and his team for a free case consultation here.
Can You Sue Costco for E. coli Poisoning and Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome?
According to FSIS, the product under recall was prepared from bull meat and finely ground beef from the Costco Wholesale plant in Tracy, California. It was then further processed with “bench trim” at the Costco Wholesale store in Coon Rapids. The steaks or roasts that were the source of the bench trim may have originated from as many as 16 different processors. Bench trim is beef manufacturing trimmings purchased from a supplier and not made on site. It is likely that the E. coli-contaminated meat came from one of these processors, but it may be impossible to determine which one.
Because Costco was involved in the processing of the tainted ground beef, it is responsible for illnesses caused by the meat. In a lawsuit for E. coli poisoning from ground beef it is not necessary to prove which of 16 or more suppliers sold tainted beef to Costco. You will need to contact Fred and his team and talk to one of our lawyers (free consultation) to find out if you can sue Costco for your case of E. coli poisoning.
Fred Pritzker is a national food safety lawyer with offices in Minneapolis, MN. His law firm is one of three in the country that practices extensively in the area of foodborne illness litigation. You can contact Fred and his team at 1-888-377-8900 (toll free) or by submitting our free consultation form. Fred has won cases against several retailers, including E. coli O157:H7 cases where the victim developed hemolytic uremic syndrome.