This story was originally published on Mon Apr 8, 2013 7:23 PM EDT

BUFFALO, N.Y. - Rich Products Corp. has announced a voluntary recall of 192,222 pounds of its Farm Rich Mini Quesadillas and other Farm Rich products because of a possible E. coli contamination.

The recall of also includes the Buffalo, N.Y.-based company's Farm Rich Mini Pizza Slices, Farm Rich Philly Cheese Steaks, Farm Rich Mozzarella Bites and Market Day Mozzarella Bites. They were produced Nov. 12 through Nov. 19.

The Farm Rich products were distributed in retail stores nationwide. The company says it's working with the Food Safety Inspection Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture to identify the possible contamination source.

The problem came to light after one person became ill and food samples were tested. Twenty four cases have now been reported in 15 states, the USDA said in a statement.

E. coli 0121, the strain implicated in the outbreak, is one of six known as non-0157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli that were banned in 2011 from the U.S. meat supply.  Testing for the six began last spring, a move that was opposed by the meat industry.

Like E. coli O157:H7, the six new strains are capable of producing bloody diarrheal illness that can lead to kidney failure and death. In 2010, for the first time, the non-O157 strains, were responsible for more infections in the U.S. than E. coli O157:H7, according to federal health officials.

Consumers with questions about the recall can call 1-888-220-5955.

The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.

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Ray Kachatorian / www.jupiterimages.com

A study of nearly 200 California home cooks found that nearly a third failed to wash their hands after handling raw meat.

You’d think a video camera in the kitchen might be one way to ensure food safety, but, boy, you’d be wrong.

Researchers who filmed nearly 200 California residents as they prepared salad and hamburgers at home found disturbing problems with hand-washing, cross-contamination and cooking mistakes, even in the presence of a video crew.

Less than half of the home cooks -- only 43 percent -- washed their hands before beginning food preparation, and nearly a quarter of those who did scrub spent only two seconds, literally, instead of the recommended 20 seconds.

That’s only the beginning of the revealing findings of two studies, conducted by University of California at Davis researchers, which recorded multiple violations of basic kitchen rules that could result in dangerous foodborne illnesses.

“What this tells us is that people aren’t perfect,” said Christine Bruhn, a UC Davis food safety scientist who investigates consumer food handling practices. “Sometimes, even those who know better because of habit or inattention can make an error.”

Bruhn and her colleague, Ho S. Phang, wanted to gather real-world evidence of consumers’ food safety habits instead of simply relying on self-reports. So they recruited volunteers in several Northern California counties, promising $50 and the cost of the groceries used in the experiment. They made sure to exclude people likely to have a high level of food safety skill, including doctors, nurses and microbiologists. But the ranks did include some folks who had previous food safety training, perhaps working in a restaurant or other public setting.

What they found was surprising. First, although 84 percent of people thought they could get sick from eating hamburgers, 18 percent believed they would only become ill if the burgers were prepared outside the home. 

Nearly a third of the volunteers who agreed to be videotaped failed to wash their hands directly after handling ground beef and more than three-quarters performed actions that could transfer illness-causing bacteria such as E. coli O157:H7 or salmonella to other surfaces.

On average, each household in the study committed 43 cross-contamination faux pas, including nearly a third who touched lettuce or tomatoes directly after handling raw meat.

About 93 percent of the 6,576 incidents of cross-contamination involved the food preparers’ hands, the researchers found.

When it came to lettuce, less than half of the participants washed each leaf under running water with gentle rubbing, as recommended. Fifteen percent of the volunteers didn’t wash their lettuce at all, while 8 percent failed to wash the celery.

The vast majority of volunteers actually cooked their burgers correctly, with 70 percent reaching the 160 degree Fahrenheit temperature recommended by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Still, that was largely by chance, as only 4 percent of the participants used a meat thermometer to check doneness, and only 13 percent had any idea about the correct temperature for cooked ground beef.

Four volunteers pronounced their burgers done at internal temperatures of less than 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

The studies were released last year in the Journal of Food Protection, but got little attention outside of food safety circles. Bruhn said they point to the overwhelming need for consumer education and awareness to help prevent the 9.4 million episodes of foodborne illness caused by 31 major pathogens each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People need to remember basic hygiene – soap and hot water – and to be careful to keep raw meat and vegetables separate in every way: on cutting boards, when using knives, even when touching the kitchen faucet. Produce should be washed under running water with gentle friction and then dried using a salad spinner or paper towels, not cloth.

Meat should be checked for doneness with a thermometer, not by judging the color of the cooked burger or chicken breast.

“It’s really not hard to wash your hands and do these basic precautions,” said Bruhn.

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Update, June 22: One additional victim has been confirmed in an outbreak of E. coli O145 infections that puzzled state and federal health officials, bringing the total illnesses to 15 identified in six states. No source of the outbreak has been identified, the Centers for Disease Control and infection said Friday. Because the last illness was detected six weeks ago, the outbreak may be over, but officials said they'll continue to search for sources of the infections.

Federal health officials are investigating a mysterious outbreak of E. coli infections that has sickened at least 14 people in six states, including a 21-month-old Louisiana girl who died.

No source has been identified for the strain of E. coli O145 genetically linked to illnesses in states as far-flung as Florida and California, officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Friday. People became ill between April 15 and May 12. 

Most of the infections have been reported in Georgia, with five cases, and Louisiana, with four cases, including the death of the child identified as Maelan Elizabeth Graffagnini of New Orleans.

Two infections with the outbreak strain have been reported in Alabama and one each has been reported in California, Florida and Tennessee. The Florida victim is a 22-year-old woman from Leon County, state health officials said. 

“This ongoing multi-state investigation has not yet identified a source of those infections,” a CDC statement released Friday said. “The investigation is looking at both food and non-food exposures.”

Health officials in several states are interviewing ill people to determine how they may have been exposed to the E. coli strain, one of several Shiga Toxin-producing E. coli — or STEC — varieties.

The most common STEC is E. coli O157:H7, which is the potentially deadly strain commonly linked to ground beef. The strain of E. coli O145 is less common, but can be just as harmful. 

This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began testing certain cuts of commercially produced beef for E. coli O145 and five other STEC strains that have the potential to cause serious illness and death.

People typically become ill between two and eight days after being infected. Most people develop diarrhea, including watery and bloody diarrhea, and abdominal cramps. Most people get better in a week, but some people — including children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems — can become seriously ill, developing a condition known as hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause kidney failure and death.

While the specific cause of the outbreak remains unknown, health officials recommend several general steps to prevent transmission of illness:

• Wash your hands after using the bathroom, changing diapers and before eating or preparing food. Wash up also after contact with animals or their environments, including petting zoos, farms, fairs and home backyards.
• Prevent cross contamination of food by washing hands, counters, cutting boards and utensils after they touch raw meat.
• Cook meat thoroughly. Ground beef and meat that has been tenderized should be cooked to at least 160 degrees F. Use a meat thermometer to check doneness.
• Avoid raw milk, unpasteurized dairy products and unpasteurized juices such as fresh apple cider.
• Avoid swallowing water when swimming or playing in lakes, ponds, streams, swimming pools and kiddie pools.

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The death of a 6-year-old Massachusetts boy after a mystery E. coli infection continues to stump health officials searching for the source.

Owen Carrignan of Millbury died May 26 after developing hemolytic uremic syndrome, the most serious complication of infection with dangerous strains of E. coli bacteria. The first-grader was infected with E. coli O157:H7, the strain most often associated with illnesses tied to ground beef.

But Owen didn’t appear to have contact with hamburger or other beef before he became ill starting around May 20, said Derek S. Brindisi, the Worcester, Mass., director of public health. In fact, it’s still not at all clear what made Owen sick.

“It’s primarily a foodborne illness pathogen,” noted Brindisi. “But it could be food, it could be a secondary exposure, a cross-contamination or exposure to another animal or person.”

Owen's mother, Michelle Carrignan, told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette that the boy spent the night at a friend's house. His father, Shawn Carrignan, separately said the boy ate a hot dog at a barbecue. But Brindisi said more recent interviews suggested that Owen already had symptoms before those events and that they were unlikely to be the cause. 

After becoming ill, Owen quickly worsened, eventually developing kidney failure caused by HUS.

“It should never happen, you know? A 6-year-old boy full of life,” Todd Carrignan, Owen’s uncle, told WHDH, an NBC affiliate.

Before his death, Owen was a healthy, active boy with a bright smile who loved the outdoors, playing sports and wrestling with his sisters, a family memorial said.

On Monday, a team of local health officials, with advice from state epidemiologists, had expanded their investigation of Owen’s death, Brindisi said.

They’re looking closely at his diet throughout the month of May, not just in the one- to 10-day incubation period for E. coli O157:H7.

Food samples from retail venues, including stores and restaurants, that may have provided food that Owen ate are being examined at state laboratories, said Brindisi, who declined to identify the specific foods being tested.

E. coli O157:H7 causes about 36 percent of the 265,000 infections caused by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, known as STECs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Serious complications, such as HUS, are more common in children, the elderly and people with other health problems.

So far, there are no other reports of E. coli infection related to Owen’s, Brindisi said.

In many cases, the source of isolated E. coli infections is never detected. Only about 20 percent of E. coli cases are part of recognized outbreaks. Still Massachusetts health officials plan to exhaust all options.

“Each day, we learn new information,” Brindisi said.

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Barring any last-minute delays, U.S. food safety inspectors will begin testing Monday for six new strains of potentially deadly E. coli bacteria to be banned from certain cuts of raw beef.

The move implements long-delayed federal regulations aimed at a group of E. coli bacteria collectively known as “the Big Six,” bugs capable of causing severe infection and death.

Under the new rules, the six additional strains of E. coli will be classified as adulterants on par with the better-known E. coli O157:H7, which is often linked to serious illnesses tied to hamburger. The new strains include E. coli O26, O111, O103, O121, O45 and O145.

Meat producers such as Cargill Inc., who have long opposed expanded testing, said they are ready to begin.

“We are prepared for USDA to collect whatever samples they wish to collect for non-O157 STEC sampling at our beef harvesting (slaughter) facilities starting June 4,” Cargill spokesman Michael Martin wrote in an email to msnbc.com.

Beginning Monday, it will be illegal to sell raw beef trimmings and non-intact beef products, such as tenderized steaks, if they’re contaminated with any of the six new strains of E. coli, according to documents from the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The agency indicated it plans in the future to expand routine testing for those strains to additional raw beef products, including ground beef.

Like E. coli O157:H7, the six new strains are capable of producing bloody diarrheal illness that can lead to kidney failure and death. In 2010, for the first time, the non-O157 strains of what are known as Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, or STECs, were responsible for more infections in the U.S. than E. coli O157:H7, according to federal health officials.

The non-O157 STECs caused 451 confirmed infections that year, including 69 people who were hospitalized and one death. E. coli O157:H7 caused 442 infections, 184 hospitalizations and two deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Many illnesses are never reported, however, and the agency estimates that non-O157 E. coli strains cause an estimated 113,000 illnesses and 300 hospitalizations a year.

The new rules were announced last September by Dr. Elisabeth Hagen, the USDA’s undersecretary for food safety. Testing originally was set to begin in March. The most recent delay was only the latest in a saga that started in 2007, when food safety advocates and federal officials first began discussing whether the lesser-known strains of E. coli should be regarded as adulterants, too.

Meat industry officials vehemently opposed the move, saying that current efforts to identify E. coli O157 were adequate to screen for the other strains as well.

“The science tells us that the food safety protocols and interventions we have in place for E. coli O157:H7 also mitigate the other six STECs,” Martin wrote.

Beef importers from outside the U.S. also objected, saying the new regulations would impede trade. 

Some in the meat industry already were testing for the non-O157 STECs. Costco already tests for the pathogens. Also, Beef Products Inc., the South Dakota firm at the center of the "pink slime" scandal, has long tested its lean finely textured beef products for the presence of the additional strains of E. coli in addition to O157:H7. Spokesman Craig Letch said that practice continues, even after the company shuttered three of its four plants.

The new testing requirement is a victory for Bill Marler, a Seattle food safety lawyer who petitioned FSIS to have the “Big Six” strains declared adulterants and then threatened to sue the USDA when the agency didn’t respond promptly.

He pointed to the 1994 classification of E. coli O157:H7 as an adulterant as a turning point for food safety in U.S. and said the new rules would have a similar effect.

“(It) dramatically changed the landscape of how safe our meat supply is for the better,” he said. “This is another step in getting this done correctly.”

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• E. coli-tainted venison kabobs sicken Minn. students

Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP, file

White-tailed deer similar to this one were the source of an odd outbreak of E. coli food poisoning among students in a Minnesota high school science class.

A Minnesota high school science project that involved hunting and butchering deer -- including one road-kill capture -- and turning the meat into venison kabobs backfired when 29 students were sickened with a rare kind of E. coli food poisoning, investigators say.

The 2010 incident just now reported in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases highlights the risks of E. coli contamination, not just from factory-produced meat, but also from small, local providers.

Doctors first knew they had a problem in December 2010 when two kids from the same high school turned up at a Minnesota hospital with abdominal pain and bloody diarrhea. Fearing they had a food poisoning outbreak on their hands, they quickly called in the state’s top-notch public health officials.

Both teens had taken part in a school environmental science and outdoor recreation class that involving hunting, shooting and butchering six white-tailed deer, explained Joshua Rounds, the study’s lead author and an epidemiologist with the Minnesota Department of Public Health. A seventh deer was harvested after being hit by a car, the report says.

The deer were processed on school grounds and then grilled and eaten in class a few weeks before the students got sick.

Epidemiologists interviewed 117 kids in five class periods and found that 29 definitely had become ill, but not with E. coli O157:H7, the strain commonly associated with food poisoning from ground beef.

Rounds suspected the deer might have carried another E. coli strain that also produces poisons known as Shiga toxins. He was right. Samples from the students and the deer meet turned up E. coli O103:H2, which is part of a larger category of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing E. coli bugs, known as STECs.

Scientists also turned up another E. coli strain, E. coli O145:NM that didn’t produce Shiga toxins.

STECs are becoming a more worrisome form of E. coli, so much so that federal agriculture officials are poised to begin banning six strains of the possibly lethal bacteria from some forms of beef in the nation’s food supply starting next spring.

Under the new regulations, the bacteria will be considered adulterants and it will be illegal to sell beef contaminated with the bacteria collectively dubbed “the big six,” including Shiga-toxin producing E. coli O103 and O145.

In the case of the Minnesota deer hunters, the source of the problem was clear.

People don’t usually get sick from eating hunks or steaks of muscle meat, Rounds said. In this case, however, the meat had been skewered and cooked only to medium rare. The skewers had dragged contaminants from the meat’s surface down to the center of the kabobs, which hadn’t been cooked to a high enough temperature to kill the bacteria.

Unless the entire hunk of meat is cooked to 165 degrees Fahrenheit, there’s a risk of food poisoning, Rounds said.

Another factor was hand-washing when handling meat -- or the lack of it, Rounds said.

Not everyone in the class was as fastidious about cleaning their hands as they could have been.

“If you think about high school males, they’re probably not the best when it comes to food safety practices,” he said. “So you can have cross-contamination.”

The case is a reminder, Rounds said, that all meat, no matter where it comes from, should be treated with careful precautions.

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