E. coli Alert West Missouri Beef Recalls Beef

West Missouri Beef, LLC has a recall order out for about 14 000 pounds of beef product because of the possible contamination by E.coli 0157:H7. The boneless beef products were distributed to wholesalers in Illinois.

Some of the questionable boneless beef was distributed as long ago as October of 2009. 
No illnesses have been attributed to this latest recall of beef.  The presence of E. coli 0157:H7 may cause life threatening symptoms.  Because serious illnesses showed up in a cluster at a fast food operation, the disease that E. coli 0157:H7 causes has been colloqueally dubbed "hamburger disease".  The best defense against "hamburger disease" is to cook the meat to an internal temperature of 160 F.
The E. coli bacterium is a naturally occurring organism that inhabits the lower digestive tract of healthy warm blooded animals.  There are many varieties of E. coli and most do not cause problems.  The presence of E. coli in food indicates that somewhere in the food chain, hygienic methods have failed.