Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Topps Meat Co. filed for bankruptcy protection two months after beginning the second-biggest beef recall in U.S. history.

The company didn't provide financial details in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newark, New Jersey. The company listed assets and debt of between $1 million and $100 million and said it had as many as 10,000 creditors.

``Because of the severe economic impact of the recall, the debtor was forced to cease manufacturing operations at its Elizabeth, New Jersey, plant and lay off the majority of its employees, effectively terminating its manufacturing operations,'' the company said in its Nov. 21 filing.

The recalled products, more than 21.7 million pounds of ground beef, sickened about 40 people in eight states, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In response to the September recall, the U.S. Department of Agriculture began an investigation into the Elizabeth, New Jersey-based company, Topps said in the bankruptcy filing. Closely held Topps Meat was founded in 1940.

In 1997, Hudson Foods Co. recalled 25 million pounds of ground beef produced at its processing plant in Columbus, Nebraska, the largest such recall ever.

A wholly owned and separately managed subsidiary, J&B Meats of Moline, Illinois, wasn't affected by the Topps closure.

On Nov. 8, the USDA said it would double its inspections of meat and poultry products imported from Canada. The agency cited the practices of Ranchers Beef Ltd., the Balzac, Alberta-based company that was identified as a likely source of E. coli-tainted beef supplied to Topps.

The case is In re Topps Meat, 07-27196, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, District of New Jersey (Newark).

To contact the reporter on this story: Steven Church in Wilmington, Delaware, at schurch@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: November 23, 2007 16:17 EST