Company Buying Topps Meat Assets for $825,000

MSDT Acquisition Corp., an affiliate of the Hawthorne, N.J.-based company Premio Foods, is in the process of purchasing all the Topps Meat Co. equipment, trademarks and beef, some of which may be contaminated.

An Elizabeth, N.J.-based meat company, Topps went bankrupt in September after a recall of 21.7 million pounds of beef patties that possibly contained the E. coli virus.

It was the second largest beef recall in U.S. history and caused 40 people in eight states, including New Jersey, to become ill. Topps was previously the largest manufacturer of frozen hamburgers.

The 43-year-old Premio Foods makes more than 20 varieties of Italian sausage, according to its Web site.

According to federal bankruptcy court filings, MSDT will purchase the Topps equipment and trademark for $635,000. The company also will buy 2.1 million pounds of meat for $190,000, according to published reports.

In early November, Topps meat, which was recalled more than a month earlier, was discovered in one store in the city of Passaic and 11 other municipalities statewide.

Read the full Herald News story here.