Topps Meat Company

{{Infobox company

| name = Topps Meat Company, LLC

| industry = Meat processing

| founded = {{Start date and age|1940}} in Manhattan, New York

| founder = Benjamin Sachs

| defunct = {{End date|2007|10|5}}

| fate = Ceased operations following Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak

| hq_location = Elizabeth, New Jersey

| parent = Strategic Investment and Holdings (2003-2007)

| website = [https://web.archive.org/web/20060816001922/http://www.toppsmeat.com toppsmeat.com] at the WayBack Machine (archived August 16, 2006)

}}

The Topps Meat Company, LLC was a privately-owned meat processing company based in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

{{cite news |last1=Belson |first1=Ken |last2=Fahim |first2=Kareem |date=October 6, 2007 |title=After Extensive Beef Recall, Topps Goes Out of Business |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/us/06topps.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130625073758/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/us/06topps.html |archive-date=June 25, 2013 |accessdate=October 6, 2007 |work=The New York Times}}

{{cite web |title=About Topps |url=http://www.toppsmeat.com/about.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606115835/http://www.toppsmeat.com/about.html |archivedate=June 6, 2007 |accessdate=October 5, 2007 |website=Topps Meat}}

{{cite news |last1=Belson |first1=Ken |last2=Fahim |first2=Kareem |date=October 5, 2007 |title=Meat Company Going Out of Business After Recall |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/us/05cnd-topps.html?hp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140724211830/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/05/us/05cnd-topps.html?hp&_r=0 |archive-date=July 24, 2014 |accessdate=October 5, 2007 |work=The New York Times}} The company produced and distributed frozen ground beef patties and other meat products processed at its {{convert|3000|sqft|m2|adj=on}} plant in Elizabeth and posted about $8.8 million a year in sales, according to information reported by Dun & Bradstreet.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=October 8, 2007 |title=Potentially Deadly Threat Led To Recall |url=https://njbiz.com/potentially-deadly-threat-led-to-recall/ |access-date=February 21, 2025 |website=NJBIZ |language=en-US}}

In 2007, the Topps Meat Company's products were linked to an outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 (E. coli O157:H7) infections and, on October 5 of that year, the company ceased operations.{{Cite news|last1=Belson|first1=Ken|last2=Fahim|first2=Kareem|date=2007-10-06|title=After Extensive Beef Recall, Topps Goes Out of Business|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/us/06topps.html|access-date=2020-09-14|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |date=October 6, 2007 |title=Topps Meat closes 6 days after huge recall |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3698099&page=1 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207080109/https://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=3698099&page=1 |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |access-date=February 21, 2025 |website=ABC News |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=October 5, 2007 |title=Topps Meat shuts down after recall |url=https://money.cnn.com/2007/10/05/news/companies/topps_recall/index.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127014648/https://money.cnn.com/2007/10/05/news/companies/topps_recall/index.htm |archive-date=November 27, 2007 |access-date=February 22, 2025 |website=CNN Money |publisher=CNN}}

History

The Topps Meat Company was founded in Manhattan, New York by Benjamin Sachs in 1940. He would later sell the company to his son, Steven Sachs.{{When|date=February 2025|reason=When was the company sold to Steven?}} Prior to relocating to New Jersey, Joseph D’Urso became vice president of the company.{{When|date=February 2025|reason=When did Joseph D'Urso become vice president, and when did Topps relocate to New Jersey?}}

In 2003, the company was purchased by Strategic Investment and Holdings, an investment firm based in Buffalo, New York, following the death of D'Urso.

Prior to the 2007 E. coli O157:H7 outbreak Topps Meat was implicated in, an inspection report by the United States Department of Agriculture in 2005 discovered that the company had received processed meat contaminated with the bacteria, which they began to process before being notified of the contamination. The same year, the company settled a $1.7 million lawsuit with a maintenance worker whose arm was amputated by an industrial processor and was sued by a 9-year-old girl who claimed to have fallen ill after eating a hamburger made by the company.

= ''Escherichia coli'' O157:H7 outbreak and closure =

The first reported case of illness linked to E. coli O157:H7 contamination occurred on July 5, 2007. The first positive test results for E. coli contamination of Topps' products were returned on September 7, 2007, but the USDA waited to confirm the tests before ordering a recall 18 days later, a decision that was met with criticism.{{Cite web |last=Yen |first=Hope |last2=Gold |first2=Jeffrey |date=October 5, 2007 |title=USDA Defends 18-Day Wait on Beef Recall |url=http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5igYUJVjgwiiOrvpL9-faEYHGJ4DAD8S2MI380 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20071010003641/http://ap.google.com:80/article/ALeqM5igYUJVjgwiiOrvpL9-faEYHGJ4DAD8S2MI380 |archive-date=October 10, 2007 |access-date=February 21, 2025 |website=The Associated Press}}

In September 2007, Topps Meat Company ultimately recalled 21.7 million pounds of frozen ground beef products due to Escherichia coli O157:H7 contamination concerns. Product samples subsequently tested positive for contamination with E. coli.

On October 4, 2007, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Topps Meat over the contaminated meat and its consequences.

{{cite news |last=Fahim |first=Kareem |date=October 4, 2007 |title=Class action lawsuit filed against producer of beef |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/nyregion/04topps.html |accessdate=2007-10-05 |work=The New York Times}} The same day, the USDA served Topps Meat with a "notice of intended enforcement" after discovering "inadequate process controls" in the company’s non-ground beef production processes. On October 5, 2007, Topps Meat ceased operations; 77 workers were laid off while about 10 others remained employed to assist the USDA's investigation.

{{cite web |last=Perone |first=Joseph R. |date=October 5, 2007 |title=Topps Meat Co. folds after beef recall |url=http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/10/topps_meat_co_folds_after_mass.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071104113023/http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2007/10/topps_meat_co_folds_after_mass.html |archive-date=November 4, 2007 |accessdate=February 21, 2025 |website=NJ.com}}

A total of 40 people in eight states fell ill after consuming hamburgers made by Topps Meat Co.{{Cite web |date=October 26, 2007 |title=Multistate Outbreak of E. coli O157 Infections Linked to Topp's Brand Ground Beef Patties |url=https://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2007/ground-beef-patties-10-26-2007.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.cdc.gov/www_cdc_gov/ecoli/2007/ground-beef-patties-10-26-2007.html |archive-date=May 13, 2024 |access-date=February 21, 2025 |website=Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |language=en-us |via=CDC Archive}} At the time, the recalls of Topps' products were the second-largest beef recall in United States history, after Hudson Foods Company's recall of 25 million pounds of ground beef in 1997.