E. COLI PROMPTS RECALL OF KROGER CASE-READY LINES

LYNNE MILLER

WASHINGTON -- At least three illnesses linked to ground beef purchased at Kroger stores in Georgia touched off a comprehensive recall last week of fresh ground meats produced at a Georgia plant dedicated to making case-ready products for Kroger stores.

Excel Corp. voluntarily recalled 190,000 pounds of ground beef and pork -- all the ground meat made at the company's Newnan, Ga., plant on May 23 and 24 -- in response to government tests that showed one package of ground beef purchased at a Kroger in Georgia tested positive for E. coli 0157:H7.

The meats involved in the recall had been distributed to Kroger stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Company officials had not determined the source of the contamination, a spokesman for Excel told SN.

"We're reviewing a variety of factors and we may make some changes," said Mark Klein, director of communications. "The industry is not at that point yet where anyone can guarantee pathogen-free meat."

Three children from two families were sickened after eating ground beef purchased at two Kroger stores in Georgia, said Susan Lance-Parker, a director in the epidemiology branch of the Georgia Division of Public Health.

Two of the three youngsters were hospitalized but have since fully recovered, she said.