What is now the third largest ground beef recall in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) history has presumably affected 29 individuals in the following states: Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at least 11 of the 29 individuals were hospitalized. The victims range in age from 3 to 77 years old.

The agency also noted that the first food poisoning case began on July 5 and the last on September 11.

Amid complaints that the USDA waited 18 days after learning about possible contamination of hamburgers before announcing the Topps recall (see Chicago Tribune article in this regard: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-071003recall-web,1,3793250.story?page=1), on Monday U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio introduced legislation to strengthen the USDA’s recall ability.

“When something does go wrong, USDA needs to be able to act and act quickly, “