A ground beef recall first issued by a California meat company last month, has been expanded to include five times more meat after federal investigators determined that approximately 4.9 million pounds of beef and veal products were produced in unsanitary conditions that could have caused E. coli contamination.

The expansion of the Huntington Meat Packing Inc. veal, beef products and ground beef recall was announced on February 12 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). The original recall was announced on January 18 for 864,000 pounds of beef products after FSIS inspectors determined that some of the meat was contaminated with the E. coli O157:H7 bacterial strain.

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46 percent Increase in U.S. Citizens Receiving Emergency Food 37 Million Americans, Including 14 Million Children, at Risk of Hunger

A landmark study released today from Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization, reports that more than 37 million people, one in eight Americans — including 14 million children and nearly 3 million seniors — receive emergency food each year through the nation’s network of food banks and the agencies they serve. The findings represent a staggering 46 percent increase since the organization’s previously released study in 2006.

Hunger in America 2010 is the first research study to capture the significant connection between the recent economic downturn and an increased need for emergency food assistance.  The number of children and adults in need of food as a result of experiencing food insecurity has significantly increased.

Feeding America: Landmark New Study Reveals Unprecedented Number of Americans Seeking Food.

http://feedingamerica.org/