The Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) is advising consumers that Northfork Bison Distributions is recalling bison burgers and ground bison because they have the potential to be contaminated with E. coli: O121 and O103.
This form of E. coli may cause diarrheal illness. Although most healthy adults can recover completely within a week, some people can develop a form of kidney failure called Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome (HUS). HUS is most likely to occur in young children and the elderly. The condition can lead to serious damage and even death. Illnesses have been reported in association with this recall.
Pictures of the labels are available online (see below).
The institutions that have bison burgers and ground bison in their inventories with production dates from February 22, 2019 to April 30, 2019 should contact their distributor for a full refund. For retail outlets, the bison burgers in question have an expiration date up to October 8th, 2020, and can be clearly identified by their blue boxes with the Northfork Bison logo. Consumers who have purchased these bison burgers are urged to return them to the place of purchase for a full refund.