24 sick; just cook it is bad advice; FDA orders massive recall

The just-cook-it company has just been told to recall all of its frozen food after an E. coli O121 outbreak linked to the New York plant has sickened at least 24 people.

JoNel Aleccia at NBC News reports that Rich Products Corp. of Buffalo, N.Y., is pulling pepperoni pizzas, mozzarella bites, Philly Farm-Rich-Pizza-Slices-recall-jpgcheese steaks and a host of other products with best buy dates from Jan. 1, 2013 through Sept. 29, 2014.

Seven people have been hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

However, many more people may have been sickened by the products but not yet know it because of complexities involved in identifying  E. coli O121, a strain that can be just as dangerous as the better-known E. coli O157:H7 frequently tied to outbreaks caused by hamburger.

The New York state Department of Health identified the outbreak strain of E. coli O121 in an opened package of Farm Rich brand frozen mini chicken and cheese quesadillas from an ill person’s home, the CDC said.

This entry was posted in E. coli, Food Safety Policy and tagged , , by Douglas Powell. Bookmark the permalink.

About Douglas Powell

A former professor of food safety and the publisher of barfblog.com, Powell is passionate about food, has five daughters, and is an OK goaltender in pickup hockey. Download Doug’s CV here. Dr. Douglas Powell editor, barfblog.com retired professor, food safety 3/289 Annerley Rd Annerley, Queensland 4103 dpowell29@gmail.com 61478222221 I am based in Brisbane, Australia, 15 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time