By LISA SIMPSON STRANGE
GLASGOW — There is no local recall of ground beef planned following contamination by a virulent strain of E. coli in meat products processed by a company that supplies a food chain with store locations in Kentucky.
Even though Food Lion LLC alerted all of its MVP discount card customers nationwide through e-mails earlier this week about the tainted meat, area Food Lion stores are not affected by the recall, according to a corporate spokesperson.
When contacted Tuesday, local store manager Toby Pentecost of Food Lion No. 492 in Highland Commons, 214 South L. Rogers Wells Blvd., referred all questions to corporate headquarters, saying the decision about the recall and subsequent e-mail was made there.
Christy Phillips-Brown, a representative with Food Lion corporate communications, said Tuesday afternoon that the shipment of contaminated ground beef was isolated to Food Lion stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia and didn’t affect any of their stores in Kentucky.
“Food safety is a top priority at Food Lion LLC. Fairbank Farms notified Food Lion LLC this afternoon (Sunday) that our company received a portion of fresh ground beef products that are part of Fairbank Farms’ national product recall. The recall is isolated to 93/7 ground beef purchased at Food Lion, Bloom or Bottom Dollar Food in North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. In an abundance of caution, any customer who purchased 93/7 ground beef at Food Lion, Bloom or Bottom Dollar Food with the sell by date of Sept. 21 through Oct. 8 should return the meat to the store for a full refund. The company is removing any affected items found from store shelves immediately,” the e-mail to MVP customers read.
Another local grocery chain does not stock the line of meat products.
“We don’t carry that here,” Ben Brownfield, assistant manager of Houchens #1 in Southgate Plaza, said Wednesday morning.
Fairbanks Farms, of Ashville, N.Y., was the supplier of the contaminated fresh ground beef that caused a possible E. coli outbreak that killed two people and sent 16 others to hospitals, federal health officials said Monday.
Twenty-eight people may have become ill after eating beef produced by Fairbank Farms the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. All but three of the suspected infections are in the northeastern U.S. and 18 are in New England, said CDC spokeswoman Lola Scott Russell.
Fairbank Farms recalled almost 546,000 pounds of fresh ground beef that had been distributed in September to stores from North Carolina to Maine. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s recall notice said the possibly tainted meat had been sold in numerous ways, from meatloaf and meatball mix to hamburger patties.
One of the deaths was an adult from Albany County, N.Y., who had several underlying health conditions, according to the state Health Department. The other fatality was previously reported by New Hampshire, where health officials said a patient died of complications.
The CDC did not specify the states where people were hospitalized. Kidney failure is found in the most severe cases of E. coli. In less serious cases, the potentially deadly bacterium can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration.
Symptoms of E. coli infections usually show up three to four days after a person eats contaminated food, although in some cases it can be as long as eight days. Officials said anyone having symptoms should contact a doctor.
Russell said the E. coli strain involved in the recall infects about 70,000 Americans a year and kills 52.
Associated Press reports contributed to this story.
