PT Farm Beef Linked to E. coli Outbreak in New Hampshire

At least 14 people have been sickened in an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to beef products produced by PT Farm, LLC, a North Haverhill, New Hampshire establishment, according to the USDA. In response to this outbreak of illness, PT Farm is recalling about 8,800 pounds of raw beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, according to the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

E coli
Low-temperature electron micrograph of a cluster of E. coli bacteria.

Complications of E. coli food poisoning include kidney failure (hemolytic uremic syndrome), colitis and severe dehydration. Our E. coli lawyers have represented people who suffered permanent injury and families of people who died. All of this because a company sold food contaminated with a dangerous pathogen.

PT Farm Beef Recall

ground-beef-poThe recalled beef products include raw ground beef, ground beef patties and other sub-primal cuts that were produced between June 6 and June 16, 2016. The following products are subject to recall:

  • Various weights and various sizes of raw intact and raw non-intact “Chestnut Farms” beef products packed in cardboard boxes.
  • Various weights and various sizes of raw intact and raw non-intact “PT Farm” beef products packed in cardboard boxes.
  • Various weights and various sizes of raw intact and raw non-intact “Miles Smith Farm” beef products packed in cardboard boxes.
  • Various weights and various sizes of raw intact and raw non-intact “Robie Farm” beef products packed in cardboard boxes.

All of the recalled products have the establishment number “M8868” inside the USDA mark of inspection. Prior to recall, they were shipped to retail locations and, for institutional use, to locations in Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont.

E. coli Outbreak Investigation Leads to PT Farm

When someone is diagnosed with E. coli, it means the bacteria was found in the patient’s stool sample. After this initial finding and diagnosis, E. coli isolates from the stool sample are sent to a lab for genetic testing to determine the DNA pattern of those isolates. People are part of the same outbreak when the DNA patterns of their E. coli isolates match. This means these people were sickened by the same source.

In this outbreak, the USDA’s FSIS was notified of the 14 related cases of E. coli O157:H7 in New Hampshire on July 20, 2016. The dates of onset of illness ranged from June 15 to July 10, 2016. “Working in conjunction with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, FSIS determined that there is a link between the beef products from PT Farm and this illness cluster” (FSIS).

The investigation included interviews with those sickened and family members with information regarding food consumed in the days prior to onset of illness. Traceback investigations for 8 of the 14 people sickened then “led back to a single day of production at PT Farm” (FSIS).

  1. http://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/recalls-and-public-health-alerts/recall-case-archive/archive/2016/recall-065-2016-release

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Category: Food Poisoning
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