Ground beef tainted with a deadly strain of E.coli sickened a dozen people in five states and Canada, including three in southern California, state health authorities said Monday, a day after the distributor recalled 75,000 pounds of meat, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Vernon-based United Food Group LLC reported that it voluntarily pulled the beef in the 11 states where it was shipped after samples taken by California and Colorado public health officials revealed the meat was tainted with E. coli O157:H7, the same type of bacteria linked to last year’s spinach scare.
“All of the product is not on any store shelf including Sacramento,” said United Vice President Brian Levy. He added that the beef, now about 45 days old, has also been removed production.
The Centers for Disease Control are leading the investigation into what went wrong, as CDC and California health officials try to trace the source of the E.coli.
The recall targeted 10-pound casings and 5-, 2- and 1-pound chubs of Moran’s All-Natural fine ground beef and sirloin, Inter-American Products ground beef and 3-pound chubs of ground beef from southern California grocer Stater Bros. Markets, all distributed by United Food Group.
