NEWARK – New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram is advising state Attorneys General throughout the country to increase inspections of retail stores for recalled frozen hamburgers because Division of Consumer Affairs and Department of Health and Senior Services investigators continue to find these products for sale in New Jersey.

Division of Consumer Affairs investigators, working in conjunction with state, county and municipal health inspectors, have found that Topps Meat Company frozen hamburgers recalled for potential E.coli contamination were on sale in 12 retailers in northern and southern New Jersey. The investigators have found that the retailers purchased the products from Greater New York Frozen Food Distribution Company Inc., of Queens, N.Y., Associated Group Grocers of Jamaica, N.Y., Burris Foods Inc. of Milford, Delaware, or Jetro Cash and Carry of Jersey City, N.J.

"What began with the discovery of recalled hamburgers being for sale at a single store has escalated into a statewide public health issue, and potentially, a national issue as well," Attorney General Milgram said. "It is unacceptable that consumers can walk into a store and find these recalled contaminated products on the shelf, readily available for purchase and consumption, more than one month after the voluntary recall was announced."

Attorney General Milgram is advising state Attorneys General that additional public notice and outreach to retailers and consumers are needed in light of the inspection results in New Jersey.

The state Division of Consumer Affairs and Department of Health and Senior Services has created a joint task force to conduct store inspections and to keep the public informed.

Since the initial discovery of recalled Topps products for sale at a Union City store on October 24, ten additional stores in North Jersey and one in South Jersey were found to be selling these products.

Consumer Affairs and Department of Health personnel have found recalled products for sale at the following locations:

• Gloucester City Market
527-529 Monmouth Street, Gloucester City

• Arias & Fernandez
278 Monroe Street, Passaic

• Sahill’s Pantry
7000 Boulevard East, Guttenberg

• Reyes Mini Market #1
1 Littleton Avenue, Newark

• San Miguel Supermarket #5
180 12th Avenue, Newark

• Bargain World (aka Stop 1 Food Mart)
715 New York Avenue, Union City

• Lucky Food Center (aka Boca Chica Mini Market)
6501 Park Avenue, West New York

• Wayne Gusto Meat Market
190 Ocean Avenue, Jersey City

• Super Good Luck Grocery
91 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Jersey City

• 8 New Brothers Super World
61 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Jersey City

• La Mia Grocery
503A Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Jersey City

• BergenLine Supermarket
8107 Bergenline Avenue, North Bergen

A total of 141 boxes of recalled products were found for sale at the 12 stores.

The Division of Consumer Affairs has issued subpoenas to Burris Foods Inc., Jetro Cash and Carry and Greater New York Frozen Food Distribution Company Inc. seeking information about the retailers that purchased Topps products from them as well as their efforts to inform their customers of the recall.

"Our investigators are continuing to check stores for these products in coordination with health inspectors," Acting Consumer Affairs Director Larry DeMarzo said. "Although the recall was announced in September, this is not old news. Both retailers and consumers must be vigilant and check their freezers for these recalled items."

The recalled products were produced by Topps with a "sell by date" or "best if used by date" that falls between September 25, 2007 and September 25, 2008. This information may be found on the back panel of the package. All recalled products will have a USDA establishment number of EST 9748, which is located on the back panel of the package and/or in the USDA legend.

The recalled products bear the Topps name and also other brand names including Butcher’s Best, Kohler Foods, Mike’s, Pathmark, Rastelli’s Fine Foods, Roma-Topps, Sam’s Choice, Sand Castle, ShopRite and West Side. The products found since October 24 all bear the Topps name.

The complete list of recalled products can be viewed on the Division of Consumer Affairs web site, http://www.state.nj.us/lps/ca/press/topps4.htm

Symptoms of E. coli O157:H7 exposure could include stomach cramps and diarrhea. Bloody diarrhea may develop. E. coli disease sometimes leads to a complication called hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). If you exhibited any of these symptoms within 3 to 5 days of consuming any of the products specified above, seek medical attention immediately

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