Hamburger Recall Shows How Government Failed To Protect Consumers

[babylonsister]

Many Red Flags Preceded a Recall of Hamburger

By CHRISTOPHER DREW and ANDREW MARTIN
Published: October 23, 2007


ELIZABETH, N.J. — Over the summer, as Americans fired up their grills, the Topps Meat factory here scrambled to produce thousands of frozen hamburger patties for Wal-Mart and other customers, putting intense pressure on workers.

As output rose, federal regulators said in interviews, the company was neglecting critical safeguards meant to protect consumers. Three big batches of hamburger contaminated with a potentially deadly germ emerged from the plant, making at least 40 people sick and prompting the second-largest beef recall in history.

Topps is now out of business, but the case points up broader problems in the nation’s system for protecting consumers from food-borne illness.

Five years ago, the government demanded more stringent safeguards against contamination because of a deadly form of the germ E. coli. But federal regulators now acknowledge that the controls are not working in some meat plants. They are trying to figure out what went wrong and how to overcome the dangers.


more...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/23/business/23meat.html?ex=1350792000&en=f719828608a272ce&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

[tiptoe]

1. Gee...derelict *Co has yet to address Mad Cow with a serious survey. (Neocons live for disasters

and disaster capitalism.)