Kroger Expands Beef Recall To 20 States

Fears Of E. Coli Contamination Prompt Expansion Of Voluntary Recall

(AP)  First it was the tomatoes. Now it's the beef.

Fourth of July picnic tables are getting a careful look as familiar hamburgers are feared to be among the tainted ingredients in separate food safety scares.

On Wednesday, The Kroger Co. expanded its voluntary recall of some ground beef products to its stores in more than 20 states, saying the meat may be contaminated with E. coli.

The nation's biggest traditional grocer also urged customers to check the ground beef in their refrigerators and freezers to determine whether it is covered by the recall.

The warning comes as federal investigators try to pinpoint the source of a separate salmonella outbreak linked to tomatoes that has sickened nearly 900 people, raising more questions about the nation's food safety system.

While insisting that tomatoes remain the leading suspect, investigators are looking at other produce but remain mum on exactly what vegetables are getting tracked.

Kroger's recall stems from meat obtained from one of Kroger's suppliers, Nebraska Beef Ltd., that has been linked to illnesses reported in Michigan and Ohio between May 31 and June 8 caused by E. coli bacteria.

Nebraska Beef has recalled from wholesalers and other processing companies nearly 532,000 pounds of ground beef produced on five dates between May 16 and June 24.

Kroger said Wednesday that as a precaution it removed from stores all ground beef supplied by Nebraska Beef marked with sell by dates of May 21 or later.

"Ground beef in stores today comes from other suppliers not involved in the recall," Kroger spokeswoman Meghan Glynn said Wednesday.

The Cincinnati-based company initiated a recall June 25 for Kroger stores in Michigan and in central and northern Ohio. The expanded recall includes ground beef sold at Fred Meyer, QFC, Ralphs, Smith's, Baker's, King Soopers, City Markets, Hilander, Owen's, Pay Less and Scott's with overlapping sell-by dates from mid-May through mid-July.

In some stores, the recall includes products in Styrofoam tray packages wrapped in clear cellophane or purchased from an in-store service counter. It does not include ground beef sold in 1-, 3-, or 5-pound sealed tubes or frozen ground beef patties sold in the frozen food section of its stores.

Kroger is notifying customers about the expanded recall by placing signs in stores in meat departments. It also is using its register receipt notification system.

Kroger can track purchases by customers who use the company's loyalty card, which entitles customers to certain discounts. Sometimes those customers receive information about products the next time the card is used and a receipt is issued, Glynn said.

In other cases, Kroger is able to call customers who used the loyalty card to purchase a tainted product, and it is doing that with the ground beef recall, Glynn said.

Symptoms of E. coli infection can include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and fever. It can potentially be deadly, but most people recover within five to seven days.

Health officials urge people to thoroughly cook hamburger and, if possible, use a digital thermometer to make sure meat has been heated to at least 160 degrees.

They also recommend that people wash their hands with warm water and soap for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food.

On the Net:

USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service
U.S. Centers for Disease Control E. coli site

[shanev137]

Let me guess....the price of beef will now go up.

How convenient.

[republic1776]

What good is the FDA?
Our taxes pay for the FDA inspectors on the sites.
Taxed to death and no service.
I think the Goverment should tax us for a "FREE" health care.
Imagine, what that would cost and how many would die.

[sgtrds-e4]

Time after time after time the FDA let''s us down and people get sick and die. Of course it couldn''t have anything to do with the fact that Bush turned the agency over to industry lobbyists when he took power, could it?

[harrydoghiny]

Thanks for being specific on the states involved. Clowns.

[dakotaclark]

Hmmm...

...expanded to 20 states...

IT WOULD HELP TO KNOW WHAT STATES !!!!!

[oneworldusa]

Suggestion: Stock up and freeze whatever you can, let it sit for a while and give time for any recalls to be placed before cooking. Also, wash hands well before preparing any foods and wash/rinse all perishable items well before cooking/serving.

[oneworldusa]

BTW - not ONE mention of this on Kroger''s homepage. I was hoping to find what states were affected as this article CLEARLY LEAVES THAT IMPORTANT PIECE OF INFORMATION OUT!!! But no, no information from Kroger.

[oneworldusa]

Shouldn''t these foods be appropriately tested BEFORE being sold to the public, rather than AFTER a bunch of people get sick?

[extremophil]

Sounds like a great opportunity to pick up some discount meat. Yum! (I''m one of those people who cooks his steaks and burgers before he eats them).

[displeased]

According to wikipedia, there are Krogers located in 21 states. Hmmm, I wonder which state is safe....

[spadeisspade]

I find it a little funny that on Wednesday they "removed from stores" beef with sell by dates from two months
ago. I''ve only encountered something like that buying corned beef a couple weeks after St.Patrick''s Day and it having a sell by date that was two weeks old.

[cfin5]

Sure wish I could get a lot of this meat cheap. I can it anyway with a pressure canner at 240 degrees for the proper amount of time. No more e-coli. They should do something like this instead of wasting it. That''s ridiculous.

[ebrooker1]

Here is the direct link to krogers site about te beef recall. http://www.kroger.com/services/Pages/recall.aspx

[ebrooker1]

The site list the states as well the dates per state to be concerned about.

[beehive21-2009]

The time is rip to consider eating more veggies and meats locally grown.Kroeger co. is too big, to keep a eye on its products.