Thousands of pounds of ground beef recalled

Jan. 10—WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture late Thursday announced a recall of 28,356 pounds of pre-packaged ground beef believed to be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 delivered to stores across the western United States.

According to a press release from USDA'sFood Safety and Inspection Service, the ground beef was produced by Interstate Meat Distributors Inc., of Clackamas, Oregon, on Dec. 22, 2021, and involves pre-packaged ground beef delivered to WinCo, Walmart, Kroger and Albertsons stores in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

"The issue was reported to FSIS after a retail package of ground beef was purchased and submitted to a third-party laboratory for microbial analysis and the sample tested positive," said the FSIS press release.

FSIS said its own testing confirmed the lab results, at which point the agency issued the recall order.

The recall affects the following Walmart and WinCo store branded products:

—WinCo 1-pound chubs of Fresh GROUND BEEF SIRLOIN 10% Fat, 18:37 through 18:48 L3, use or freeze by date Jan. 11, 2022;

—WinCo 1-pound chubs of Fresh ground beef 93% LEAN — 7% FAT, 19:19 through 21:14 L3, use or freeze by date Jan. 11, 2022;

—WinCo 3-pound chubs of Fresh GROUND BEEF 93% LEAN 7% FAT, 18:15 through 21:18, L1, use or freeze by date of Jan. 11, 2022;

—Walmart 1-pound chubs of ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF 90% LEAN 10% FAT, 18:49 through 19:18 L3, use or freeze by date Jan. 11, 2022;

—Walmart 1-pound chubs of ALL NATURAL LEAN GROUND BEEF 93% LEAN 7% FAT, 21:15 through 22:42 L3, use or freeze by date Jan. 11, 2022;

—Walmart 3-pound chubs of ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF 93% LEAN 7% FAT, 18:15 through 21:18, L1, use or freeze by date of Jan. 11, 2022;

—Walmart 3-pound chubs of ALL NATURAL GROUND BEEF 93% LEAN 7% FAT, 21:00 through 22:19, L1, use or freeze by date of Jan. 11, 2022.

According to FSIS, consumers who have purchased these products should not use them, should check their freezers and throw out or return any beef products to the place of purchase.

E. coli O157:H7 is a potentially deadly food borne bacterium that can cause dehydration, bloody diarrhea and abdominal cramps two to eight days after ingestion. According to FSIS, most people exposed recover, but some people — especially young children and older adults — can develop kidney failure.

Anyone having questions about food safety can contact the USDA's Meat and Poultry Hotline at 1-888-674-6854 or can chat online at the USDA's webpage, ask.usda.gov, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday, Eastern time.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.

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