Last month's recall of almost 22 million pounds of frozen hamburger is proof of how well federal safety measures are working, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture official. There's an ounce or so of logic sizzling in that claim, but it's unlikely to reassure anyone who has fallen ill from contaminated meat in recent weeks. And it shouldn't deter regulators and lawmakers from taking a closer look at food safety.

The recall, one of the largest involving meat, affects ground beef processed by the Topps Meat Co. - which announced last week it was going out of business. About 30 people in eight states, including Florida, were affected. So far, health officials have confirmed a link between three illnesses and Topps meat contaminated by E. coli, a bacterium that causes severe, possibly fatal, diarrhea.

Topps recalled some 332,000 pounds of beef Sept. 25 but expanded the recall when federal inspectors found flaws in how the company tracks its processing dates.

"A recall like this does show that we are on the job, we are doing our inspections, our investigation, and we respond when we find problems to make sure that supply is safe," Dr. Richard Raymond, USDA undersecretary of food safety, said this week.WAS RECALL FAST ENOUGH?An attorney for a 15-year-old Fort Lauderdale girl questions whether federal officials reacted quickly enough. He said the girl was hospitalized after eating a Topps burger on Aug. 17. Tests confirmed E. coli contamination on Sept. 7, he said, but Topps didn't issue its first recall until 18 days later.

Wal-Mart, which is being sued by the girl's family, pulled Topps burgers from its shelves Aug. 30 in what a company spokesman called "an abundance of caution."

While it's true that meat can become tainted after it leaves a plant, it's troubling that USDA officials and Topps were not more aggressive in their response, particularly in light of Wal-Mart's decision.

The USDA had indications that E. coli contaminations could be more common now than in past years. The department noticed a slight increase in positive results for E. coli during routine nationwide tests of meat this summer, USA Today reported.

Perhaps the Topps recall is an isolated event that was handled as quickly as possible. But federal officials should, to borrow Wal-Mart's phrase, show "an abundance of caution" and review the entire inspection and recall process.