[PEN-L:28196] speaking of food

["Ian Murray" <seamus2001@xxxxxxxxx>]

July 19, 2002
ConAgra to Recall 18 Million Pounds of Beef
By REUTERS
Filed at 12:31 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Giant ConAgra Foods Inc (CAG.N) will launch
the nation's second-largest recall of ground beef because of
potential contamination with a deadly bacteria, the U.S. Agriculture
Department said Friday.

ConAgra's recall of more than 18.6 million pounds of fresh and
frozen ground beef ranks behind Hudson Beef's record withdrawal of
35 million pounds of meat in 1997.

At least 19 people, mostly in Colorado, have fallen ill from eating
ConAgra beef contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7, according to USDA
Undersecretary Elsa Murano.

Murano told reporters ConAgra agreed to expand its recall to try to
prevent more illnesses.

ConAgra on June 30 first recalled 354,200 pounds of hamburger from
its Greeley, Colorado, plant after an outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7
was linked to the meat.

E. coli O157:H7 can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and kidney
damage. Children and the elderly are the most at risk.

A ConAgra spokesman declined to comment on another recall, saying
only that the company has had talks with the USDA over the past week
about its Colorado plant.

The USDA sent an investigative team to the Colorado plant after the
first recall.

``Our investigation and review has led us to conclude that ConAgra
should conduct this recall, and they have agreed,'' Murano said.
``Our highest priority is protecting the public's health.''

19 ILL FROM HAMBURGER

The tainted meat from the Colorado plant was distributed to grocery
stores in 21 states, according to the USDA.

The government said it would issue detailed information with lot
numbers and grocery store locations later on Friday.

So far, 19 illnesses from the beef have been reported to the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control. One case occurred in Wyoming and
another in South Dakota.

News of the recall sent ConAgra shares falling on Wall Street.

Shares of the No. 2 U.S. food company were off $1.59, or 6.7
percent, to $22.15 in mid-morning trading at the New York Stock
Exchange.

The company reached an agreement in May to sell off more than half
its fresh meat-processing operations to a private investor group led
by Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, so it could focus more on branded
consumer products such Healthy Choice Meals and Armor meats. The
deal is valued at about $1.4 billion.

However, analysts said the recall may not have any lasting effect on
the company.

``I continue to be amazed at the capacity of the American consumer
to brush off most recalls,'' said Credit Suisse First Boston food
analyst David Nelson. ``I've yet to see Americans get overly
concerned about this type of thing.''

The recall also depressed prices in the U.S. cattle market, which
has seen soaring supplies in recent months due to drought and
slumping exports.

USDA CRITICIZED

The USDA has been scrambling to recover from criticism over how it
handled the first ConAgra recall last month.

The department's Food Safety and Inspection Service admitted that it
waited 10 days after federal meat inspectors first detected the E.
coli bacteria in a ConAgra sample before notifying the company.

The USDA said this week it revised its food safety policy. Federal
meat inspectors will immediately alert a beef company when its
sample tests positive for E.coli, instead of waiting until an
investigation is complete.

In the earlier ConAgra recall, USDA tests confirmed the bacteria's
presence on June 19, but the company was not notified until after an
investigation was completed on June 29. ConAgra announced its first
recall the following day.

The largest U.S. food recall for E.coli 0157:H7 contamination was in
the summer of 1997 when Hudson Foods withdrew an eventual total of
35 million pounds of ground beef after 15 people in Colorado fell
ill, according to the USDA.

Hudson was purchased by poultry giant Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN.N) one
year later.

The E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria is destroyed when meat is thoroughly
cooked to an internal temperature of at least 160 degrees
Fahrenheit.