General Mills Recalls Frozen Pizza For E-Coli. Food Supply is Unsafe

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 1, 2007 (Thomson Financial delivered by Newstex) -- General Mills (NYSE:GIS) Inc. said Thursday its Totino's and Jeno's brands are voluntarily recalling frozen pizzas with pepperoni toppings because of possible contamination of the pepperoni with E. coli O157:H7.

The potential problem was uncovered by state and federal authorities investigating 21 occurrences of E. coli-related illnesses in 10 states, General Mills said. About half of those who became ill were hospitalized. The earliest reported case occurred on July 20 and the latest case reported occurred on Oct. 10.

Nine of the 21 people reported having eaten Totino's or Jeno's pizza with pepperoni topping at some point before getting sick, the company said.

The recall affects roughly 414,000 cases of pizza products currently in stores and all similar pizza products in consumers' freezers, General Mills said.

The frozen pizza products were produced in the company's Wellston, Ohio, plant and distributed nationwide.

Since July 1 of this year, General Mills said Totino's and Jeno's have distributed more than 120 million pizzas nationwide.

Why is the United States a Net food Importer?

Canadian beef likely cause of US e.coli cases: USDA

More E Coli

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Palm Harbor, Fla. (PRWEB) October 15, 2007 -- Anyone who has suffered recent severe fevers and diarrhea should be aware that one of the largest recalls of potentially contaminated beef in the past decade is currently under way nationally, Attorney Jeffrey Hensley warned today.

Anyone who believes they have become ill as a result of E. coli contamination should consult an attorney, he said.

Nearly 30 people from 27 states have become ill, some seriously, after eating ground beef that had been contaminated with the E.coli bacteria, according to the USDA. Federal food inspectors say the meat originated in a beef processing plant in Elizabeth, N.J.

Topps Meat, which owns the plant, has recalled 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburger patties from across the country. People became ill after eating the Topps Meat products in Florida, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Ohio, Maine and Indiana, the USDA said.

"Those who get sick from E. coli contamination can suffer permanent kidney failure and can even die," Hensley said. "The danger now is that even though a recall is under way, contaminated meat can still be sitting in peoples' freezers."

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EPA to Approve New Fumigant for Crops

he Environmental Protection Agency is expected within days to approve a new toxic fumigant for use by fruit and vegetable farmers, despite opposition from California regulators, prominent scientists and environmental and farmworker groups.

The agency intends to register methyl iodide as a substitute for the pesticide methyl bromide, which is being phased out by international treaty, according to government officials familiar with the decision. The new product is MIDAS, a methyl iodide compound manufactured by Tokyo-based Arysta LifeScience Corp.

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