For the second time this summer, an E. coli bacteria scare has prompted Fred Meyer to recall lean ground beef made from meat packed at a large Nebraska plant.
The meat, which was produced by the Omaha-based Nebraska Beef, Ltd., has "sell-by" dates of July 6 through Aug. 11 and labels that read "Lean Ground Beef Family Pack Not to Exceed 20% Fat," according to information released by Fred Meyer. It was sold at all Fred Meyer stores beginning in early July.
The remainder of the unsold beef in question has now been pulled from Fred Meyer shelves, Fred Meyer spokeswoman Melinda Merrill said Sunday.
The beef is part of a recall announced Friday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture of 1.2 million pounds of primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef made at the Nebraska Beef plant on June 17, June 24 and July 8.
Fred Meyer joins Whole Foods Market in recalling items related to Friday's recall of Nebraska Beef products.
Whole Foods issued a recall Friday of the fresh ground beef it sold in 23 states and Canada between June 2 and Aug. 6 after it received reports of illnesses in people who had shopped at Whole Foods stores in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. It did not recall the meat it sold in Washington state.
Customers can return the recalled beef to any Fred Meyer store for a full refund or replacement.
No illnesses have yet been linked to the ground beef packs sold by Fred Meyer, Merrill said.
Federal officials said that at least 31 cases of E. coli-related illnesses in the two countries have been linked to the meat, which was initially recalled Friday.
The USDA therefore recommended to Kroger, the parent company of both Fred Meyer and QFC, that the product be pulled from shelves, Merrill said Sunday. QFC was not affected by the current recall.
The announcement followed a recall issued on June 30 for ground beef products produced by Nebraska Beef. That recall was expanded on July 3 to include beef manufacturing trimmings and other products totaling 5.3 million pounds. That beef was linked to nearly 50 E. coli-related illnesses.
Early investigations by the USDA and other health agencies led federal investigators to focus on ground beef products.
"We were focused on the products that were going out for grinding," USDA spokeswoman Laura Reiser said Saturday. "We were focusing on the product that we tied to the (initial) illnesses."
But later cases of E. coli illnesses led health officials to question whether other products packed by the same company might have been missed.
When asked why Fred Meyer had continued to carry beef products produced by Nebraska Beef after the July recall, Merrill said beef in the current recall is a completely different product line and is "not related" to the ground beef recalled in July.
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