WASHINGTON — United Food Group is voluntarily expanding its June 3 and 6 recalls to include a total of approximately 5.7 million pounds of both fresh and frozen ground beef products produced between April 6 and April 20 because they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Saturday.
The recall is being expanded following a positive test of fresh ground beef subject to this recall provided by a patient in Arizona. This tested product was sold under a major grocery store label, not a pre-packaged chub shipped from the recalling firm, the department said in a release.
An investigation carried out by the California Department of Health Services and the Colorado Department of Health, in coordination with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, preceded the recall of June 3.
In all, 14 people in six states became ill after eating recalled beef, the department said. Illnesses occurred in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Utah and Wyoming.
Illness onset dates ranged between April 25 and May 18. All patients have recovered, the department said.
Based on product shelf life, fresh beef products produced on April 20 would no longer have been sold in grocery stores after May 11. Fresh beef produced before April 20 and would have been unavailable in stores even earlier.
The fresh and frozen ground beef products subject to recall were produced between April 6 and April 20 and were shipped to retail stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
In addition to specific products bearing labels from the manufacturer, some fresh ground beef, from 73 percent lean to 96 percent lean, was shipped in bulk and sold under different retail brand names. Several types of fresh ground beef patties, from 6.25 ounces to 7.25 ounces, also were shipped to retailers and sold under retail brand names, the department said.
The labels of the products subject to recall bear the establishment number “EST. 1241” inside the USDA mark of inspection or printed on the package. All of the products bear a use-by/sell-by date between “APR/15/07” and “May/07/07,” a freeze-by date between “APR/23/07” and “May/07/07,” or a production date between “APR/06/07” and “APR/20/07.” The frozen ground beef patty products bear a sell-by date between “08/06/07” and “01/20/08.” [View Labels, PDF Only]
For a full listing of the recalled products, click here.