On Thursday, November 1st, General Mills recalled Totino’s and Jeno’s frozen pizza over E coli O157:H7 contamination. The <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/general_mills_jenos_totinos_frozen_pizza_recall">Totino’s and Jeno’s pizza recall involved some 414,000 cases of frozen pizzas (nearly 5 million individual pizza pies) already shipped to stores. The two brands involved are Jeno’s and Totino’s pizzas with pepperoni in the topping. After at least 21 cases of E coli-related illness occurred in 10 states, sending half the victims to the hospital, federal and state authorities investigated and found that nine of the victims had eaten Jeno’s and Totino’s pizzas containing pepperoni. The pizzas in question were produced at General Mills’ Wellston, OH plant. Eight varieties of Totino’s and three types of Jeno’s pizzas are involved in the recall. All are pepperoni pizzas, or have a combination of toppings that includes pepperoni.
It is unknown how many of the suspected 3,3 million pounds of <"https://www.yourlawyer.com/topics/overview/e_coli_O157_H7">E. Coli tainted pizza have already been sold and are sitting in consumers’ freezers. The cafeteria system at Ohio University in Athens, OH sells food for preparation and consumption off the premises as well as dine-in options. After Gerneral Mills announced the Totino’s and Jeno’s recall, the university instructed its cafeteria markets to immediately stop selling Jeno’s brand Crisp “n’ Tasty Pizzas.
Escherichia coli is a bacterium that can be fatal to humans. It comes from animal intestines and is transferred to people food via careless handling of meat, particularly during the butchering process. Dehydration, diarrhea and various intestinal disorders can result, as well as urinary tract infections, meningitis, peritonitis, pneumonia and other serious conditions, especially in senior citizens, the very young or or people with compromised immune systems.
The recall is voluntary, and involves pizzas produced on or before October 30, 2007. Company spokesman Tom Forsythe said the pizzas were being withdrawn “as a precaution, because of the possibility that a link [to E coli] might exist.” General Mills’ stock dipped $1.08 per share the day of the announcement. The recalled Totino’s products and their SKU numbers are: Party Supreme (42800-10700), Three Meat (42800-10800), Pepperoni (42800-10800 and 42800-92114), Classic Pepperoni (42800-92114), Pepperoni Trio (42800-72157), Party Combo (42800-11600), and Combo (42800-92116). Affected Jeno’s varieties are Crisp’n Tasty Supreme (35300-00561), Crisp’n Tasty Pepperoni (35300-00572), and Crisp’n Tasty Combo (35300-00576). Recalled packages also say “EST. 7750” inside the USDA inspection mark, and show a “best if used by” date of “02 APR 08 WS.” General Mills dates the products based on a 155-day shelf life.
