USDA.

USDA last week announced the recall of nearly 96,000 pounds of beef produced by the American Foods Group in Wisconsin due to potential E. coli contamination. Reports say that the recall could grow, as American produces beef for wholesalers who in turn likely repackage the beef and sell it to retail outlets. That could complicate efforts to track shipments as the repackaging effort removes the initial codes that identify the shipments from American Foods Group. The suspect batch was processed on Oct. 10; if beef was purchased before that date, it's not included in the recall. "It's something that, unfortunately, happens with a raw product like ground beef," said Jim Mulhern, a spokesman for American Foods Group. "It's not 100 percent preventable." The 95,927 pounds of beef represents less than half a day's processing work at the Green Bay plant, Mulhern said - the equivalent of about 300 beef cows. Meanwhile, Topps Meat Co. of New Jersey, the firm that was involved in the nation's second-largest beef recall earlier this year, has now filed for bankruptcy. The firm initially closed its operations after the recall, but has now said it will liquidate assets of the company. It listed Tyson Foods and USDA as creditors. This latest recall will add more pressure for lawmakers calling for food safety changes--changes which are coming but will not likely be approved by lawmakers until some time in 2008.