Again, Americans are at risk due to food contaminated with dangerous if not deadly bacteria. But this time, it’s not in peanuts, tomatoes, Serrano peppers or pistachios. Rather, the meat of the matter is that  deadly bacterium E. coli 0157:H7 has been found lurking in almost 96,000 pounds of beef sold by an Illinois distributor.

Valley Meats LLC of Coal Valley, Ill. has recalled 95,898 pounds of its ground beef, in a move which the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls a “Class One” recall. In food terms, that’s like “Code Red” — and we don’t mean “medium rare.” It means your chance of being seriously infected by such meat is high.

The recalled meat products were produced March 10, which seems like a long time ago for meat to be still in the marketplace and for food poisoning just to have been discovered. But we’re talking frozen meat here.

Unfortunately, that meat often was sold in generic packaging and not necessarily under readily identifiable major brand names. However, some brands involved include 3S, Grillmaster, J & B, Klub, Thick ‘N Savory and Ultimate.

Sold largely in 10-pound frozen packages, the Valley Meats products were dispersed nationwide, so regardless of where you live, you may have bought the bad beef.

If you think you may have purchased it, and if you still have it in your possession, go to www.fsis.usda.gov to learn more about specific product details, and even see samples of labeling. That’s the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the Department of Agriculture.

How dangerous is the bacterium found in this meat? E. coli O157:H7 may trigger dehydration, bloody diarrhea and even kidney failure in the most extreme cases. As with salmonella, those who are most vulnerable to such food poisoning are very young children, seniors and those with weak immunity systems.

If you or a loved one is suffering from this bacterium, see a doctor immediately. Then alert a food poisoning lawyer with Jim S. Adler & Associates to gain the financial compensation to which you are rightly due. When innocents suffer from manufacturer negligence, they have a legitimate beef in the legal arena.

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