The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Colorado Department of Public Health announced July 23 that The Kroger Co., the parent company of King Soopers and City Market, has recalled nearly a half-million pounds of ground beef that may be contaminated with salmonella after 14 people in Colorado were sickened with the illness.
Brian Mabry of the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said last week that this was the first time the agency had recalled raw ground beef for salmonella.
The USDA recalled the 466,236 pounds of ground beef at the urging of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment because of the number of people hospitalized and because the strain of salmonella found is resistant to many antibiotics usually used to treat the illness, according to news reports.
Moab’s City Market is the only Utah store affected by the recall, according to a joint news release from USDA and Kroger. Moab City Market store manager Steve Collins said signs have been placed in the Moab store notifying customers of the recall, and City Market is contacting customers who used their store value card when purchasing ground beef carrying the specific expiration code dates.
“People who purchased it are being called,” Collins said. “Unfortunately, the recall came a month after the product was sold but customers may have some of it still stored in their freezer.”
The recalled ground beef, carrying the King Soopers/City Market label, were produced on various dates ranging from May 23, 2009 through June 13, 2009 and bear the establishment number “EST. 6250” within the USDA Mark of Inspection, which is printed on the front of the packages. It was sold in stores in Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
The products subject to recall include tray packs of beef patties, and one- 2.5- and 3-pound packages of 93-percent lean and 96-percent lean ground beef.
Customers are asked to return to the store any ground beef matching the products included in the recall. Collins said Wednesday morning that no customers have returned ground beef products to the Moab store.
Donna Johnston, a public health nurse for the Southeast Utah Department of Health, tracks illnesses including salmonella in the region. She said Wednesday that no cases have been reported in Moab in the past month.
The recall applies only to ground beef, and only to 93 percent lean and 96 percent lean ground beef carrying the noted expiration dates, said Trail Daugherty, a spokesman for King Soopers in Denver.
“We’ve had customers returning all kinds of meat, but it’s only this particular ground beef that is affected,” Daugherty said. “If they have a product in their freezers with a code date that matches the recall, they should return it to the store.”
In Colorado, six of the 14 people sickened with salmonella were hospitalized, but have since been released and are recovering, according to news reports.
Health officials said individuals reported becoming ill between June 13 and June 28. Those who became ill said they purchased the meat between June 1 and 14 from a variety of King Soopers and City Market stores in Colorado. The exact store locations were not released.
All 14 people who became ill said they consumed 93 percent lean ground beef during the week before becoming ill. A partially cooked hamburger collected from one ill person’s refrigerator tested positive for salmonella, the Colorado Health Department said.
Health officials said the particular strain identified in the ground beef is resistant to many antibiotics prescribed for treatment, which can increase the risk of hospitalization or treatment failure.
Salmonella is a common food-related illness, but babies, the elderly and people with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to being infected. Symptoms of salmonella include diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever. Additional symptoms may be chills, headache, nausea and vomiting that can last up to seven days, according to the USDA.
Kroger has established a recall hotline: 800-632-6900. Consumers are urged to check their freezers for the recalled meat and dispose of it or return it to the store from which it was purchased.
Ground beef products included in the recall:
• 1-pound chubs of (93/7) ground beef. Each package bears the identifying case code “69558.”
• 1 - 1.25-lb. tray packs of (96/4) ground beef. Each package bears the identifying case code “67164.”
• 1 - 1.25-lb. tray packs of (96/4) ground beef. Each package bears the identifying case code “67664.”
• 1 - 1.25-lb. tray packs of (93/7) ground beef. Each package bears the identifying case code “67663.”
• 1 - 1.25-lb. tray packs of (93/7) ground beef. Each package bears the identifying case code “67163.”
• 2.5 - 3-lb. tray packs of (93/7) ground beef. Each package bears the identifying case code “67654.”
• 6-pack trays of (93/7) ground beef patties. Each package bears the identifying case code “67106.”
• 4-pack trays of (93/7) ground beef patties. Each package bears the identifying case code “67115.”
The ground beef chub products bear a use-by/sell-by date between “05/31/09” and “06/21/09;” the tray packs of ground beef bear a use-by/sell-by date between “06.02.09” and “06.23.09;” and the ground beef patty products bear a use-by/sell-by date between “06.01.09” and “06.22.09.”
Recommendations for preventing salmonella:
Wash hands with warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds before and after handling raw meat and poultry. Also wash cutting boards, dishes and utensils with hot soapy water. Clean up spills right away.
Keep raw meat, fish and poultry away from other food that will not be cooked. Use separate cutting boards for raw meat, poultry and egg products and cooked foods
Cook raw meat and poultry to safe internal temperatures before eating. The safe internal temperature for meat such as beef and pork is 160 degrees F, and 165 degrees F for poultry, as determined with a food thermometer.
Refrigerate raw meat and poultry within two hours after purchase (one hour if temperatures exceed 90 degrees F). Refrigerate cooked meat and poultry within two hours after cooking.