Private lab tests of ground beef recalled this week by a Fairbury packer came back negative for E. coli, contradicting an Agriculture Department test that caused the recall.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service ordered the 90 pounds of ground beef recalled after a microbiological test showed E. coli contamination. Fairbury Steaks said its own testing of a sample three times showed the beef was uncontaminated before the meat was recalled.

But the government test takes precedence, so the government ordered a Class I recall, which means the health risk is high.

Fairbury Steaks recovered all the ground beef from a Ruskin restaurant, then had samples tested by Midwest Laboratories of Omaha.

Those tests of nine packages of recalled ground beef, plus a sample from its replacement shipment to the customer, all tested negative for E. coli., according to results forwarded to the Journal Star.

To assure the integrity of the process, Fairbury Steaks owner Dennis Brown said two USDA representatives watched him cut open the recalled beef, take samples and ship them to Midwest Laboratories.

"They documented it," Brown said.

The rest of the recalled beef remains at Fairbury Steaks, he said.

Midwest Laboratories, which does a lot of E. coli testing for meatpackers, confirmed the company's negative test results.

But those results are valid only for the samples submitted.

The negative test results from Midwest Laboratories don't guarantee there wasn't E. coli in the original USDA sample tested, said Midwest Laboratories spokeswoman Sue Ann Seitz.

"In general, we would say, one sample from a lot of meat could be positive while other samples are negative. Seitz said. "It has happened in the past."

Brown said he's a little confused by the contradictory test results.

Either there was a false positive test for E. coli by the USDA, he said, or there was cross-contamination of E. coli at USDA's testing site.

"I have no idea where they send it," he said. "I'll tell you right now USDA is not going to admit they did anything wrong. I don't think USDA wants to see this report."

Neil Gaffney, spokesman for the Food Safety and Inspection Service, said by e-mail the agency isn't at liberty to discuss the Midwest Laboratories results.

About the recall, Gaffney said: "FSIS found evidence of E. coli. When we find evidence of E. coli we take action immediately to have the product removed from commerce, if necessary, by recall."

Gaffney didn't respond to questions about whether the agency has any history of false positive tests for E. coli.

Brown said the USDA's original samplings for testing came from one bag of hamburger.

"We actually grabbed ground beef and put it in a bag, I took a pound and USDA took a pound," Brown said. "We pulled it out for them, sealed it, then our analysis went in, and on Nov. 14, we had our report. Ours came back negative. We didn't get the USDA's until the 17th, and they said they had a positive.

"I feel if you put everything into one bag and it's contaminated, you're going to have cross contamination," Brown said.

"I give our (USDA) inspector a copy of this (Midwest Laboratories) report at a little after 6 this morning," Brown said Friday. "It don't matter to them, at all.

"I still feel in my heart that it was a false positive on their part."

Brown wouldn't identify the customer, who he said was upset with the USDA results and the recall, he said.

"I was concerned about it, after 23 years and never a positive," he said. The beef came through a distributor from Cimpl's LLC in Yankton, S.D.

It was bull meat, frozen in 60-pound boxes, which Fairbury Steaks visually inspected and ground in Fairbury, Brown said. It came with a certificate of analysis that it tested negative for E. coli, he said.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and people with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to food-borne illness.

Reach Richard Piersol at 473-7241 or at dpiersol@journalstar.com.