Jeno's, Totino's frozen pepperoni pizzas recalled

— -- General Mills gis is recalling 5 million frozen pizzas with pepperoni nationwide after an outbreak of a virulent strain of E. coli in 10 states sickened 21 people. The recall covers 11 varieties of pepperoni pizza sold under the Totino's and Jeno's brands.

While no one died in this outbreak, the bacteria is E. coli O157, the same strain that sickened about 200 people and killed at least five in 26 states last year in an outbreak tied to bagged spinach.

The packages have the code "ET 7750" as well as a "best if used by" date of on or before "02 APR 08 WS." Consumers should throw away any pizzas they find with those marks, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Most of those frozen pizzas are still on store shelves but some may have been purchased and are in consumers' freezers, says General Mills' Tom Forsythe. The company is based in Minneapolis. The pizzas were produced in its Wellston, Ohio, plant.

The first person fell ill on July 20. The last reported illness was Oct. 10, according to the USDA. Nine of the people who got sick reported eating either Totino's or Jeno's pizza with pepperoni. Four of the patients developed kidney failure, but all recovered.

Public health officials don't know if it's the pepperoni or another ingredient that is carrying the E. coli bacteria. No other types of General Mills pizza have been implicated.

Pepperoni is the most popular pizza, while plain cheese pizza generates the second-highest number of sales, Forsythe says.

Tennessee had eight cases, the most of any state. Officials there were the first to realize that the outbreak was national. "It takes a lot of time when you have a low number of cases to get all that data into the same place and realize that cases in different parts of the country match, particularly when they're spread out over both time and geography," says Timothy Jones, Tennessee's deputy state epidemiologist.

When health officers began interviewing those who had been ill, "spontaneously a fair number of patients said 'Totino's frozen pepperoni pizza,' which wasn't even on our radar screen," Jones says.

The E. coli O157:H7 bacteria has not yet been cultured from either the pizzas or the plant that made them, a laboratory replicating process expected to identify which part of the pizza is bearing the bacteria.

The pepperoni used on General Mills' pizzas is subject to a heating "kill step" that should destroy any bacteria that might be present, Forsythe says. Baking the pizzas would also kill bacteria, he said.

The company is recalling all pepperoni pizza made between July 20 and the end of October, Forsythe says.

Twenty-one illnesses may not seem like many when compared to the number of frozen pizzas sold in the USA, but "it's more than we want to see," Jones says. And "more than the American public wants to see."

General Mills says consumers who have the products should throw them away and, for a replacement, send the UPC (bar code) symbol with their name and address to Totino's/Jeno's, P.O. Box 200 — Pizza, Minneapolis, Minn. 55440-0200. Consumers with additional questions can call the company at 800-949-9055.

The specific products in the recall, with SKU, include:

Totino's Party Supreme, 42800-10700.

Totino's Three Meat, 42800-10800.

Totino's Pepperoni, 42800-11400.

Totino's Pepperoni, 42800-92114.

Totino's Classic Pepperoni, 42800-11402.

Totino's Pepperoni Trio, 42800-72157.

Totino's Party Combo, 42800-11600.

Totino's Combo, 42800-92116.

Jeno's Crisp 'n Tasty Supreme, 35300-00561.

Jeno's Crisp 'n Tasty Pepperoni, 35300-00572.

Jeno's Crisp 'n Tasty Combo, 35300-00576.