1998 — Aug-Feb 1999 — Listeria tainted hot dog and deli meat food poisoning deaths– 21

–21  Foodborne Illness Outbreak Database. “Bil Mar Foods Ready-to-eat Meats 1998.”

–21  Perl, Peter. “Poisoned Package.” Washington Post. 1-16-2000, p. W08.

–14  Healthline.com. Worst Foodborne Illness Outbreaks in Recent U.S. History.

 

Deaths (partial list) from sources below

Colorado                    (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

Florida                        (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

Georgia                      (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

Illinois                         (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

Indiana                       (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

Michigan                    (  1)

–1  Detroit, Nov 22. Female, 56.[1]

Nebraska                    (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

New York                   (  2)

–1  Rochester area. Male, 79.[2]

–1  Upstate NY, Dec 25. Female, 75.[3]

North Carolina          (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

Ohio                            (  6)

–1  Cincinnati.[4]

–1  Columbus, Dec 24. Male, 31.[5]

–2  Columbus, Jan 20, 1999. Premature twins.[6]

–2  Toledo (one a fetus).[7]

Pennsylvania              (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

Tennessee                   (  1)

–1  Memphis, Oct 19. Female, 74.[8]

Virginia                      (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

West Virginia            (>1)

—>1  Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999.

 

Narrative Information

 

CDC, Jan 8, 1999: “From early August 1998 through January 6, 1999, at least 50 illnesses caused by a rare strain of the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, serotype 4b, have been reported to CDC by 11 states. Six adults have died and two pregnant women have had spontaneous abortions. Reported illness onset dates were during August 2-December 13, 1998. CDC and state and local health departments have identified the vehicle for transmission as hot dogs and possibly deli meats produced under many brand names by one manufacturer. This report updates the investigation of this outbreak.” (CDC. “Update: Multistate outbreak of Listeriosis — United States, 1998-1999.” MMWR, Vol. 47, No. 51, 1-8-1999, pp. 1117-1118.)

 

“On December 22, the manufacturer, Bil Mar Foods, voluntarily recalled specific production lots of hot dogs and deli meats that might be contaminated. CDC later isolated the outbreak strain of L. monocytogenes from an opened and a previously unopened package of hot dogs manufactured at the company’s plant in Zeeland, Michigan. In addition, a different strain of L. monocytogenes was isolated from unopened packages of deli meats produced at the same plant.

 

“Recalled products bear the establishment numbers EST P261 or EST 6911. The establishment number appears on the outer edge of all packages. The affected products included hot dogs and deli meats with the brand names Ball Park, Bil Mar, Bryan Bunsize, Bryan 3-lb Club Pack, Grillmaster, Hygrade, Mr. Turkey, Sara Lee Deli Meat, and Sara Lee Home Roast brands. Institutions may have received recalled product under other brand names. Packages for the above brand names that carry other establishment numbers are not affected by the recall. Other Sara Lee products that are not meat also are not affected.” (

 

Foodborne Illness Outbreak Database: “Molecular subtyping helped to identify Listeria monocytogenes cases linked to a nationwide outbreak. Cases were eventually identified in 24 states. An initial case-control study implicated meat frankfurters, or hot dogs, as the likely source. A food trace back led to Bil Mar Foods company. The outbreak abruptly ended following a manufacturer issued recall. Illness onsets ranged from January, 1998, to February, 1999. Most illness onsets occurred between August, 1998, and January, 1999. There was evidence that demolition of a refrigeration unit, in early July, 1998, increased environmental contamination in the meat production plant. The same strain of Listeria monocytogenes was isolated from hot dog and deli meat samples from the consumers and from unopened packages. Cooking destroys listeria bacteria; consumers may not have cooked the meats before eating….

 

“Total ill:                     101….

“Number Dead:          21.”

(Foodborne Illness Outbreak Database. “Bil Mar Foods Ready-to-eat Meats 1998.”

 

(Foodborne Illness Outbreak Database. “Bil Mar Foods Ready-to-eat Meats 1998.” Accessed 2017.)

 

Healthline.com: “An outbreak of Listeria from tainted hot dogs affected at least 100 people across 24 states, causing 14 adult deaths and four miscarriages. The contamination affected over nine brands, including Sara Lee Deli Meat. This outbreak spread from Bil Mar Foods’ manufacturing plant in Zeeland, Michigan.” (Healthline.com. Worst Foodborne Illness Outbreaks in Recent U.S. History.)

 

Newspapers

 

Dec 24, 1998: “Investigators from the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who are looking into an outbreak of food poisoning that has sickened 40 people and killed 4 in 10 states since August have warned consumers on the storing and cooking of hot dogs and cold cuts. The outbreak led to the recall on Tuesday of certain lots of hot dogs and packaged meat produced at the Bil Mar Foods plant in Zeeland, Mich., and sold throughout the United States. Bil Mar is a division of the Sara Lee Corporation.

 

“The culprit, investigators say, is a strain of air and soil-borne bacteria known as Listeria monocytogenes, which is carried in the intestines of animals and can easily come into contact with raw vegetables, dairy products or uncooked meat. It thrives in refrigerators, but can be destroyed by boiling or reheating food to 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

“When ingested, Listeria bacteria can cause illness and death among the elderly, pregnant women, newborns and those with weakened immune systems. In a normal year, an estimated 1,850 people become seriously ill. Of these, 425 die.

 

“Three who have died in this outbreak have been elderly. They are a man, 79, from the Rochester area, and two others from Ohio, one from Toledo and one from Cincinnati. The fourth victim, from the Toledo area, was a fetus.

 

“Ohio has had the largest number of cases, 13. New York has had 12. Tennessee, Massachusetts and West Virginia have each had 3. Michigan has had two cases. Connecticut, Oregon, Vermont and Georgia have had one each. The outbreak began on Aug. 2.

 

“Dr. Elizabeth Koch, acting state epidemiologist in Ohio, said the DNA of the bacteria involved in the outbreak showed ”a very rare pattern,” called Pattern E.

 

“Seeking the source, health officials from New York, Connecticut, Ohio and Tennessee worked with the agency to examine the diets of affected patients. Most had eaten cooked hot dogs the month before they became ill.

 

“Tom Skinner, a spokesman for the disease agency, said that on Dec. 19, three days before the Bil Mar recall, investigators isolated this strain of Listeria on an open package of hot dogs that a month earlier had been eaten by one of those who became ill. It is not known how or where this package was contaminated….

 

“Symptoms are those of a flu-like illness, and may include a fever, muscle aches, nausea, diarrhea or a stiff neck. A blood test is the most reliable way to diagnose the disease.

 

“To reduce the risks, the disease centers, recommends thoroughly cooking raw food from animal sources, washing raw vegetables, and keeping uncooked meats separate from vegetables. Hands, knives and cutting boards should be washed after coming into contact with uncooked foods….” (NYT/Jo Thomas. “Outbreak of Food Poisoning Leads to Warning on Hot Dogs and Cold Cuts.” 12-24-1998.)

 

Jan 16, 2000: “When 21 people died from eating contaminated meats, it was the nation’s most lethal food safety epidemic in 15 years — and one of the quietest. Why didn’t the U.S. Department of Agriculture blow the whistle sooner on Sara Lee?….

 

“When everything was working perfectly, the 1,600 men and women at the giant Bil Mar Foods meatpacking plant in western Michigan cranked out 1 million pounds of frankfurters and Sara Lee premium deli meats a day, seven days a week. National brands such as Ball Park and Hygrade are produced here, helping make Sara Lee Corp. the largest purveyor of packaged meats in the country and Bil Mar its largest producer.

 

“But everything was not working perfectly at Bil Mar. Looming overhead, above the…[production] belt, was a giant refrigeration unit that kept the plant cold. Bil Mar was a modern, clean facility, but the hot dog area was the oldest part of the plant, and its cooling unit looked like an enormous old car radiator. It had been patched and repaired, yet it continued to leak and cause condensation, a breeding ground for bacteria.

 

“The moisture trouble had gotten so severe that inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture took the rare step of shutting down the plant for several days in November 1997. Management repaired and replaced faulty equipment, reengineered production lines and assigned additional sanitation duties to remedy the problem.

 

“Now it was back. ‘Fluid was dripping onto exposed franks,’ a USDA inspector reported on the morning of March 12, 1998, ‘and these franks were being conveyed down the line to the packing machine.’ A second inspector cited Bil Mar that same day because he found beaded droplets of condensation falling from overhead pipes and the ceiling, landing in the cooked food.

 

“So over the July 4th weekend, during a rare production shutdown, construction workers with chain saws came to tear out the old refrigeration unit. They cut it into pieces small enough so they could haul it out of the plant. Replacing the old unit, plant officials told USDA, should go a long way toward curing the problem.

 

“Indeed, the condensation eased for a while. But another problem emerged: bacteria. The company took weekly swab samples from environmental surfaces such as slicers, conveyors and packing equipment that came in contact with food. During the following six weeks, 11 of 12 samples tested positive for bacteria, compared with only 3 of 12 in the preceding time period. The readings remained high for two more months — until November 1998, when Bil Mar stopped testing altogether.

 

“The plant’s management stepped up its sanitation efforts. Workers put iodine tablets into floor drains, took apart machinery and sprayed surfaces with citric acid and other disinfectants, used hand sanitizers and foot dips on their boots to prevent them from tracking bacteria near the food.

 

“Meanwhile, the condensation persisted. By the end of 1998, USDA inspectors had written up Bil Mar for at least 45 ‘Noncompliance Records’ that specifically cited condensation or water dripping throughout the plant. Each citation carried a standard USDA warning: ‘Further failure to implement effective corrective and preventive actions may result in additional regulatory and administrative actions.’ No such action was taken by USDA — not until it was too late….

 

“By the time it was over, the food poisoning outbreak that originated at Bil Mar had swept across 22 states, killing at least 21 people and seriously sickening at least 100 others from Tucson to Baltimore, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was the most lethal case of food-borne illness in the United States in 15 years.

 

“The culprit was Listeria monocytogenes, a rare bacteria that is far less common than its better-known biological cousins — salmonella and E. coli — but far more deadly.

 

“When the listeria outbreak was finally pinpointed by the CDC, Sara Lee officials on December 22, 1998, voluntarily recalled an estimated 35 million pounds of Bil Mar’s hot dogs and deli products. It was possibly the largest meat recall in history — and one of the quietest.

 

“The Bil Mar case attracted relatively little public attention partly because the news media were riveted on the impeachment drama of President Clinton and on the U.S. bombing of Iraq, while the public was additionally preoccupied with the holiday season.

 

“But it was also because the Agriculture Department — in contradiction of its own policies — failed to issue a press release informing the public of the danger, even though the CDC already had reported four deaths. Instead, USDA relied on an announcement issued by Bil Mar that did not mention the full scope of the recall or the dire nature of the illness, let alone the deaths.

 

“As a result, many consumers continued eating Bil Mar products and the death toll climbed — to 14 by January 20, 1999, nearly a month after the recall. That day, after the first lawsuits had been filed against the company on behalf of the victims, Sara Lee took out full-page advertisements in newspapers across the country to further publicize the recall, although these announcements, too, made no mention of the deaths. Finally, on January 28, USDA issued a press release, more than a month after federal officials had first confirmed that eating the contaminated meat could be fatal….

 

“…the Bil Mar outbreak illustrates some crucial weaknesses in USDA’s oversight of another key sector: food-processing plants. A politically powerful industry, a compliant Congress and a timid federal bureaucracy have fashioned a system that still has glaring problems:

 

“Lack of Regulatory Power: Government can order the recall of products like unsafe cars, toys and insecticides — but not food. Health officials must rely on persuading companies to voluntarily recall tainted meat. Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman has sought mandatory recall authority in Congress, but has failed partly because of the lobbying clout of the food industry.

 

“Bureaucratic Conflicts: Although one set of government officials at the CDC pinpointed Bil Mar as the source of the outbreak, another set at USDA refused to request a recall. Agriculture officials, worried about the legal implications of wrongly accusing Sara Lee, did not believe the CDC had sufficient evidence to merit a recall. While USDA continued waiting for more than a week for definitive laboratory results, company officials were prodded to act by an angry Minnesota state health official and by the CDC.

 

“Long Delays: While USDA now requires microbial testing in slaughterhouses, it has not yet mandated similar testing for food-processing plants. Even after the 21 deaths, the department has left to companies’ discretion the decision on whether to test, while it researches whether to enact a mandatory rule, a process that will take up to three years.

 

“Lack of Penalties: USDA’s new inspection system, like the old, contains no system of penalties for repeated violations. USDA has sought the power to issue fines and civil penalties from Congress, which has refused. Its only enforcement tool is to shut down plants, an option it rarely uses….

 

Sources

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Update: Multistate outbreak of Listeriosis — United States, 1998-1999.” MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), Vol. 47, No. 51, 1-8-1999, pp. 1117-1118. Accessed 11-10-2017 at: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056169.htm

 

Foodborne Illness Outbreak Database. “Bil Mar Foods Ready-to-eat Meats 1998.” Accessed 11-10-2017 at: http://www.outbreakdatabase.com/details/bil-mar-foods-ready-to-eat-meats-1998/

 

Healthline.com. Worst Foodborne Illness Outbreaks in Recent U.S. History. Accessed 11-10-2017 at: https://www.healthline.com/health/worst-foodborne-illness-outbreaks#emlisteriaem5

 

Knight Ridder. “Deaths blamed on tainted meat climb to 9.” Baltimore Sun, 1-15-1999. Accessed 11-11-2017 at: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1999-01-15/news/9901150208_1_sara-lee-listeria-deli-meats

 

New York Times (Jo Thomas). “Outbreak of Food Poisoning Leads to Warning on Hot Dogs and Cold Cuts.” 12-24-1998. Accessed 11-10-2017 at: http://www.nytimes.com/1998/12/24/us/outbreak-of-food-poisoning-leads-to-warning-on-hot-dogs-and-cold-cuts.html

 

Perl, Peter. “Poisoned Package.” Washington Post, 1-16-2000, p. W08. Accessed 11-10-2017 at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-01/16/102r-011600-idx.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1] Washington Post (Peter Perl). “Poisoned Package.” 1-16-2000, p. W08.

[2] NYT/Jo Thomas. “Outbreak of Food Poisoning Leads to Warning on Hot Dogs and Cold Cuts.” 12-24-1998.

[3] Washington Post (Peter Perl). “Poisoned Package.” 1-16-2000, p. W08.

[4] NYT/Jo Thomas. “Outbreak of Food Poisoning Leads to Warning on Hot Dogs and Cold Cuts.” 12-24-1998.

[5] Washington Post (Peter Perl). “Poisoned Package.” 1-16-2000, p. W08.

[6] Washington Post (Peter Perl). “Poisoned Package.” 1-16-2000, p. W08.

[7] NYT/Jo Thomas. “Outbreak of Food Poisoning Leads to Warning on Hot Dogs and Cold Cuts.” 12-24-1998.

[8] Washington Post (Peter Perl). “Poisoned Package.” 1-16-2000, p. W08.