August 31, 2010
US recalls ground beef linked with E. coli illnesses
About 8,500 pounds of ground beef that might be contaminated with a type of E. coli bacteria are being recalled by a company in Pennsylvania, the USDA announced Saturday (Aug 28).
The department said its Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) found a link between the recalled ground beef and three instances of illness in New York and Maine.
The FSIS said Cargill Meat Solutions of Wyalusing, Pa., shipped the beef in question in cases of 14-pound packages to distribution centres in Connecticut and Maryland for further distribution in smaller packages for consumers. They were sold under different retail brand names.
The USDA released a list of retail outlets that it said it had reason to believe had received some of the beef in question.
No stores in the immediate Washington area were listed. In Maryland, one store in Baltimore was listed, and in Virginia, one store in Chesapeake. All of the stores listed in a total of eight states were BJ's Wholesale Club locations.
The department said the ground beef has an identifying product code of W69032. It said the beef subject to recall carries the establishment number EST. 9400 inside the USDA mark of inspection. The ground beef was produced on June 11, and packages had a use-by/freeze-by date of July 1.
The FSIS said ground beef should be eaten only if it has been cooked to 160 degrees Fahrenheit. A food thermometer that measures internal temperature is the only way to confirm that level, it added.
