Topps Meat Company - Timeline

Timeline

• 1940 - Founded
• 2003 - Purchased by Strategic Investment and Holdings
• 2005
  • USDA found that the plant had received meat tainted with E. coli
  • Topps settled a $1.7 million accidental arm amputation lawsuit
  • Company sued after consumer became ill from eating a Topps hamburger.
• 2007
  • July 5 - first illness linked to recall
  • July 8 - second illness case
  • September 7 - USDA's first positive test results for E. coli contamination
  • September 25 - initial recall of 331,582 pounds of frozen hamburger patties
  • September 29 - with additional evidence of "inadequate sanitation and process controls" and 25 illnesses under investigation in eight states, the USDA expanded the recall to a total of 21.7 million pounds of Topps beef.
  • October 4 - class-action lawsuit filed
  • October 4 - USDA's "notice of intended enforcement"
  • October 5 - Topps Meat ceases operations