Beef Recall Forces Topps to Shut Down

Carlos Ramos, center, who said he has worked for 33 years at the Topps Meat Co. plant in Elizabeth, N.J., kisses other employees, who would not give their names, outside the plant, Friday, Oct. 5, 2007. Topps Meat Co. on Friday said it was closing its business, six days after it was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history and 67 years after it first opened it doors. (AP Photo/Mike Derer) (Mike Derer - AP)

NEWARK, N.J. -- Topps Meat Co. said a massive meat recall forced it out of business, but government scientists have yet to determine the source of the E. coli contamination that appears to have sickened 32 people who ate its hamburgers.

The investigation continued Friday after the Topps announcement, which the company said will cost 87 people their jobs. To date, the U.S. Agriculture Department has said it found inadequate E. coli safety measures at Topps' only plant, in Elizabeth.

"This is tragic for all concerned," said Topps chief operating officer Anthony D'Urso, a member of the family that founded the company in 1940.

The Topps recall _ the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history _ raised questions about whether the U.S. Agriculture Department should have acted quicker to encourage a recall. On Thursday, top USDA officials said they would speed warnings in the future.

Thirty-two people in eight states had E. coli infections matching the strain found in the Topps patties, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. None have died.

Topps began recalling frozen hamburger patties that may have been contaminated with the potentially fatal E. coli bacteria strain O157:H7 on Sept. 25. The recall eventually ballooned to 21.7 million pounds of ground beef.

Topps conceded that much of the recalled meat had already been eaten, and on Friday expressed regret that its product had been linked to illnesses. "We hope and pray for the full recovery of those individuals," D'Urso said in a statement.

Topps, which halted production Sept. 26, is not the first meat company shuttered by a recall. Hudson Foods Co. closed its plant in Columbus, Neb., after it agreed in 1997 to destroy 25 million pounds of hamburger in the largest U.S. meat recall after E. coli was found in the ground beef. The plant later reopened with new owners.

Topps faces at least two lawsuits filed since the recall, one from the family of an upstate New York girl who became ill, and one seeking class-action status on behalf of all people who bought or ate the hamburgers. The family of a Florida girl who suffered kidney failure sued Wal-Mart Stores Inc., which is among chains that sold Topps patties. On Friday, the companies again said they will not comment on the suits.

Wal-Mart said that while its Wal-Mart and Neighborhood Markets stores were affected by the recall, Topps products represented less than 1 percent of its meat. "We have not had a problem replacing this supply," spokeswoman Deisha Galberth said.

The closing, or any subsequent bankruptcy, does not derail the lawsuits, said William D. Marler, a lawyer for the family of 8-year-old Emily McDonald, of North Colonie, N.Y. She was hospitalized for two days after eating a hamburger Aug. 17 at a barbecue.

"Bankruptcy will slow the process down, but it does not mean that people will not be compensated," Marler said.