Nebraska Beef recall expands to 5 million pounds

The USDA recall for Nebraska Beef has now been expanded to 5.3 million pounds, as opposed to just 500,000 pounds a week earlier.

The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Thursday (8 July, 2008) it was expanding the recall of ground beef produced by Omaha, Nebraska-based Nebraska Beef to about 5.3 million pounds.

The initial recall notice, on June 30, was issued as some products may have been contaminated by E. coli, according to a statement on the FSIS Web site.

The decision to expand the scope of the recall was the result of ongoing investigations, the statement said, which led the agency to conclude that Nebraska Beef's production practices "are insufficient to effectively control E. coli O157:H7 in their beef products that are intended for grinding.

The agency added that the products subject to recall may have been produced under insanitary conditions.

FSIS noted that the products in this expanded recall were further processed at other firms, and so are unlikely to bear Nebraska Beef's establishment number on products for direct consumer purchase.

In conjunction with Nebraska Beef's expanded recall, The Kroger Co. in Cincinnati also expanded its recall of ground beef sold in its supermarkets, supplied by Nebraska Beef.