Pa. firm recalls 8,500 lbs. of beef

WYALUSING, Pa., Aug. 29 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania company is recalling about 8,500 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli O26, federal officials said Saturday.

The U.S. Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a release on its Web site that the ground beef products produced by Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. of Wyalusing, Pa., may have reached BJ's Wholesale Club outlets in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

The ground beef was shipped to distribution centers in Connecticut and Maryland in 42-pound cases that had a "use/freeze by" date of "07/01/10," the identifying product code "W69032" and the establishment number "EST. 9400" inside the USDA inspection mark.

However, the beef was then repackaged into consumer-size packages and sold under different retail brand names. The agency said it didn't have the product codes for those packages.

The possibly tainted beef was produced June 11.FSIS became aware of the problem on Aug. 5 when the agency was notified by the Maine Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Resources of an E. coli O26 cluster of illnesses. Two cases were identified in Maine and one in New York.

People were reported to have gotten ill June 24 to July 16.

Anyone with questions can contact AskKaren.gov or call 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854).