Health officials tracking bad meat

Erica D. Johnson

Friday, Oct. 18, 2002 | 11:08 a.m.

Clark County Health District officials are surveying meat distributors valleywide, trying to find out which companies received some of the bacteria-tainted meat recently recalled from a Pennsylvania company.

Pilgrim's Pride Corporation between Oct. 9 and 13 recalled 28 million pounds of fresh and frozen chicken and turkey products. The products had been distributed nationwide.

According to the Food Safety and Inspection Service website that Health District officials referred callers to, the recalled meat was produced between May 1 and Oct. 11. Packages of roasted and smoked chicken and turkey breast were among the items recalled.

The website said the meat could be the source of "widespread contamination." The company has voluntarily suspended business.

Clark County Health District officials said there have been no reports of listeria monocytogenes, the disease caused by consuming the meat, in Clark County in the past year.

Symptoms of the disease include fever, muscle aches and gastrointestinal distress such as nausea or diarrhea.

Clark County officials found out about the recall Monday morning, Marc Bergtholdt, senior environmental health specialist, said.

Bergtholdt said he suspects many of the local businesses who received the meat could be large wholesalers or institutions. Most of the recalled meat was sold in large quantities.

"We have no idea exactly who in Las Vegas received the meat because it's such a huge recall," he said.

Other than practicing safe food habits to avoid the introduction of bacteria such as salmonella, Bergtholdt said, there is little consumers can do to avoid tainted meat.

"That's the problem with food-borne illnesses," Bergtholdt said. "You can't touch it, taste it or see it. The only way to tell is when people get sick. Then we can link the illness with the product."

For more information on the recall, call 877-260-7110 or visit www.fsis.usda.gov.