Aldi, Target and Safeway forced to pull E. coli-infected ground beef from shelves in nationwide recall after one person died and another 17 fell ill
- Cargill Meat Solutions is recalling ground beef produced on June 21
- The beef was packaged in Colorado then sent to retailers nationwide
- This is the second recall for Cargill in two months after Publix supermarket recalled their beef from all of its stores
Major supermarkets are pulling ground beef from their shelves nationwide after one person died and another 17 were sickened by E. coli-infected meat.
Aldi, Target and Safeway are among the list of seven supermarkets named by the USDA this morning in a bid to track down all of the risky meat.
The meatpacker, Colorado’s Cargill Meat Solutions, is in the midst of recalling more than 132,000 pounds of ground beef packaged on June 21, which had subsequently been shipped to retailers nationwide.
The products include three-, 10- and 20-poundpackages of ground beef under the Our Certified, Excel, Sterling Silver, Certified and Fire River Farms brands with July 11 use or freeze by dates.
This is the second recall for Cargill in two months after Publix supermarket recalled their beef from all of its stores
Regulators warned that people should also check for the products in their freezers. They advise throwing the products away or returning them to the location of purchase.
In a statement on Thursday, Cargill said all of the affected products have been removed from supermarkets. Food safety teams are reviewing the Fort Morgan facility and others ‘to ensure we continue to deliver safe food,’ the statement said.
‘We were distressed to learn a fatality may be related to an E.coli contamination of one of our products,’ it said. ‘Our hearts go out to the families and individuals affected by this issue.’
The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service did not release information about the people who died or became ill, including locations.
A spokeswoman referred questions to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A representative for the CDC did not immediately return messages seeking more information.
The Cargill plant had a smaller recall of Excel ground beef in August, but no illnesses had been reported at that time.
Most people infected with E. coli develop diarrhea and vomiting. More severe infections can lead to kidney failure.