NO BAD BEEF AT AREA'S BURGER KING RESTAURANTS

A few people have been wondering if the local Burger Kings have had problems with contaminated beef from Hudson Foods.

Dan Drury, owner of 22 area Burger Kings, including the three in Cape Girardeau and Jackson, said they have not.

Drury said two cases of Hudson Foods beef were recalled out of Drury's restaurant in St. Louis. He said his stores are supplied through a different distributor than most of the Burger Kings in St. Louis.

Drury said his stores were sharing their beef with less fortunate restaurants.

Drury said in a prepared statement Saturday that some Burger King restaurants did receive beef patties produced by Hudson Foods, Inc.; however, the Burger King patties were made on a completely separate production line from those patties produced by Hudson Foods for retail sale to supermarkets. It is the retail product that is suspected of containing the E. coli bacteria.

"Nonetheless, Burger King Corp. recalled all of the patties produced by Hudson Foods in order to ensure the safety or our customers," Drury said. "After extensive review of our patty inventory, we have marked the two cases found out of 22 stores for nonuse and have contacted our distributor for immediate pickup. Our stores are not out of beef as the media coverage has conveyed. Our stores are under compliance with FDA approved procedures and perform four tests throughout the day to confirm appropriate cooking levels."

Drury said his stores have received some concerned phone calls about the beef this week and there has been a slight drop in business. He said the hamburgers at Burger King are cooked longer now to be safe.

"We have had an influx of chicken and fish orders this week," Drury said.