USDA reassures consumers on meat safety, despite death in Milwaukee

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Agriculture Department is assisting Milwaukee health officials in investigating an E. coli outbreak that has been linked to the death of a 3-year-old girl, a USDA official said on Monday.

Carol Blake, USDA spokeswoman, said the Milwaukee Health Department was taking the lead in the investigation and the USDA was "involved peripherally."

The USDA reassured consumers that federally-inspected meat was safe, but Blake said, "We are always looking to make a safe food supply safer."

The 3-year-old girl died on Friday from an E.coli infection traced to a Sizzler steakhouse in Milwaukee. About a dozen other cases of E.coli infections have been linked to the outlet, on West Layton Ave.

The outbreak was caused by E.coli 0157:H7, the same strain that tainted the water supply of the Canadian farm town of Walkerton in May, causing or contributing to at least six deaths.

Sizzler International Inc. (SZ.N) said that the contamination appeared to be limited to the single outlet in Milwaukee, one of its 200 franchises nationwide. Sizzler USA, based in Culver City, California, also operates 65 company-owned restaurants.

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - E. coli information
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