The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will take steps to improve its recall process because of delays between reports of illness connected to ground beef from the Topps Meat Co. and the recall announcement.
"There is room for improvement," said David Goldman, an assistant administrator with the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.
Topps Meat Co. in late September recalled 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground-beef products for possible E. coli bacteria contamination. At least 29 people in eight states became ill after eating the meat from Topps, and the company later folded.
A lawyer for one of the people who became ill has said the USDA knew on Sept. 7 that the ground beef was tainted, yet it waited 18 days before concluding that Topps should issue a recall.
Read the full Bloomberg News story here.
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