ATHOL — After reports of illness, Adams Farm Slaughterhouse is recalling beef, veal, and Bison products that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced today.
The farm, which serves customers throughout southern New England and eastern New York, became aware of the problem on Friday afternoon, Ed Maltby, the general manager of the slaughterhouse, said Sunday, as he was working on the recall. He said he is working with the USDA to narrow the cause of the contamination.
“We want to do anything possible to prevent any spreading of illness,” he said.
The bad meat could be traced to a few hot days in August when the farm “may not have compensated for the heat,” Maltby said.
He said he was shocked by the scope of the recall, which he described as about two and a half months of production, because the farm has narrowed it down to two days in production, he said.
Maltby said the farm is reaching out to customers.
The farm had one other, minor recall involving someone who ate raw hamburger in 2010, said Maltby.
While the slaugherhouse feels the contamination is centered around a few days in August, the USDA is looking at raw intact and non-intact beef products originated from animals slaughtered on July 15, 25, and 27 and Aug. 3, 8, 10, 11, 17, 24 and 26, and further processed and packed on various dates between July 21, and Sept. 22.
Some of the items were shipped to farmer’s markets, retail locations, and restaurants in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and eastern New York. The products may have been shipped to neighboring states in the immediate area, the agency’s ‘s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in an alert issued over the weekend.
FSIS was notified of an investigation of E. coli O157:H7 illnesses on Sept. 16. Working in conjunction with the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, FSIS determined that there is a link between beef from Adams Farm Slaughterhouse and this illness cluster. Based on the investigation, seven patients have been identified in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia with illness onset dates ranging from June 27 to Sept. 4. Traceback information was available for five patients and indicated that all consumed beef products supplied by Adams Farms Slaughterhouse.
E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps two to eight days after exposure. While most people recover within a week, some people may develop more serious kidney illness, the agency said.
The Adams Farm slaughterhouse is a third generation, USDA approved facility owned and operated by Beverly Mundell and her children, Richard Adams and Noreen Heath.
In 2008, the business, started in 1946, expanded into a new state-of-the-art facility, one of the largest slaughterhouses in New England, and is used by farms all over the region that raise meat animals and have them processed into consumable cuts.