Topps Meat, hit by recall, to close

Topps Meat Co. said it was closing its business, days after it was forced to issue the second-largest beef recall in U.S. history and 67 years after it opened its doors. The decision will cost 87 people their jobs, the Elizabeth, N.J., company said.

Topps on Sept. 25 began recalling frozen hamburger patties that may have been contaminated with a potentially fatal strain of E. coli bacteria. The recall eventually expanded to 21.7 million pounds of ground beef. Thirty people in eight states had E. coli infections matching the strain found in the Topps patties, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.