When planning this weekend’s tailgate, students should be aware that a popular food item has been recalled.
The Topps brand of frozen hamburger patties were voluntarily recalled by the manufacturer this week after fear of E. coli contamination were made public. The patties were removed from shelves around the country, totaling about 331,582 pounds in frozen beef.
The patties have been removed from local Wal-Marts and Winn-Dixies. University officials said the brand in question was not present on campus before the recall was announced.
“Because the health and safety of our consumers is our top priority, we are taking these expansive measures,” Geoffrey Livermore, Topps vice president of operations, said in a statement. “Topps is continuing to work with the USDA, state departments of health, retailers and distributors to ensure the safety of our consumers. Additionally, we have augmented our internal quality control procedures with microbiologists and food safety experts.”
Wal-Mart representatives referred reporters to the statement on their Web site that confirmed the company stocked the product and has removed it from the shelves.
“As soon as we learned of the expanded Topps Meat recall, we directed our stores to remove affected product from our meat cases and placed an electronic block at registers in all our stores,” the statement read.
Anyone who purchased the hamburgers from Wal-Mart can return them to a store and get a full refund.
Joshua Whitton, communications director for Winn-Dixie, said customer safety is a priority.
“Upon receiving information from Topps Meat Company of the expanded voluntary recall, our stores began removing [products], which may be implicated in the update,” Whitton said in a statement.
David Heidke, University Dining director, said the University’s dining halls and eating establishments never stocked the patties.
But he said he received a notification from the Chartwells corporate office and had to respond with certification that none of the patties were in campus dining facilities.
Heidke said while campus doesn’t use the Topps brand, he buys the patties for use at home.
“I cook it at home,” Heidke said. “It’s a product I enjoy. I buy it pretty regularly. The past couple of weeks I haven’t been able to find it.”
The USDA also reminded consumers in a news release about the recall on its Web site that all meat should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees to ensure all bacteria is killed.
—-Contact Ginger Gibson at [email protected]