A 21.7-million-pound E. coli recall put 67-year-old Topps Meat out of business

On September 25, 2007, Topps Meat Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey recalled frozen hamburger patties after E. coli O157:H7 was linked to illness. Four days later it expanded the recall to 21.7 million pounds, roughly a year of production — the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history at the time.

CDC matched 40 cases of E. coli infection to the outbreak strain, and the recall covered all Topps hamburger products with sell-by dates between September 25, 2007 and September 25, 2008. The company, 67 years old and the nation's largest frozen-patty maker, halted production.

On October 5, 2007, Topps announced it was going out of business, saying it could not overcome the economic reality of a recall this large. In November it filed for bankruptcy and began liquidation, putting 87 employees out of work.

The recall covered 21.7 million pounds, about a year of production; the company shut down within two weeks, put 87 workers out of work and liquidated.

Contamination control failed and E. coli reached frozen patties sold nationally.

The recall covered a full year of production, so the company lost almost its entire revenue at once.

As a private single-line business, Topps had no other brands or capital to absorb the loss.

For a single-product food company, a recall covering a year of output is existential: Topps lost its entire revenue stream, its customers and its brand at once.

The case became a food-safety turning point: USDA acknowledged the delay between positive tests and the recall, tightened ground-beef testing and recall procedures, and intensified the industry debate over testing beef trim. Topps' brand and facilities were liquidated in bankruptcy, and its name disappeared from the market.