Lawsuit Filed Over Contaminated Beef

BOSTON (AP) -- Lawsuits against two meat companies claim a Massachusetts girl and a Rhode Island boy were sickened by ground beef contaminated by E. coli bacteria.

The lawsuits filed Tuesday in Plymouth Superior Court say the children were hospitalized but are now recovering.

A lawsuit against Brockton-based South Shore Meats says 11-year-old Austin Richmond of Lincoln, R.I., became ill Oct. 17 after he ate a hamburger at a Massachusetts youth camp.

The second lawsuit, against Ashville, N.Y-based Fairbank Farms of Chautauqua County, claims 12-year-old Andrea Munro of Marshfield became ill Sept. 28 after eating meat from that company.

Each company has recently recalled meat health officials linked to separate E. coli outbreaks.

A spokeswoman for Fairbank Farms declined comment Tuesday. South Shore Meats did not immediately return phone messages. 

A federal health official says two deaths and 26 other illnesses may be linked to possibly contaminated ground beef recalled by Fairbank Farms.

Lola Scott Russell, a spokeswoman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says one of the deaths involved a New York adult with several underlying health conditions. The other is a death previously reported by New Hampshire officials.

She says all but three of the suspected E. coli infections are in the northeastern U.S. and 18 are in New England. The CDC is investigating all the cases.

Ashville based Fairbank Farms, of Chautauqua County,  recalled almost 546,000 pounds of fresh ground beef that may be tainted with E. coli bacteria. The meat was distributed in September to stores from Virginia to Maine.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirms that Fairbank Farms has had two other recent recalls. Over 800 pounds of ground beef were recalled in September 2007 because of another possible E-coli contamination. And over 22,000 pounds were also recalled in May 2008 with possible contamination with plastic.   

The Fairbank Farms spokeswoman told WGRZ.com that the Chautauqua County plant is still operating with its 100 member workforce.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture says an assessment of the inspection process is underway as part of the overall investigation.