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Shoppers at Giant grocery stores and BJ's Wholesale Club here, and at other grocery stores along the East Coast, are being asked to check their freezers for ground beef that is being recalled due to a possible contamination.
Giant, which has eight supermarkets here, and BJ's, which has one store here, sold the affected beef, produced by Fairbank Farms of Ashville, N.Y.
The recall comes after an E. coli outbreak recently sickened more than 20 people and caused at least one death, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Monday. E. coli, a bacteria, can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea and even complications leading to kidney failure or death.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service became aware of the problem during an investigation of a cluster of E. coli cases. Working with the CDC, the ag department determined there is an association between the fresh ground beef products subject to the recall and illnesses in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts.
The CDC said a New York adult with underlying medical conditions had died and another possibly related death in New Hampshire was under investigation. Sixteen hospitalizations were reported.
Fairbank Farms announced its recall Saturday.
The meat likely would be in consumers' freezers, as it had sell-by dates of Sept. 19 to Sept. 28. The number "EST. 492" would be inside the USDA inspection mark or on the nutrition label.
Shoppers may bring the product back for a full refund.
Giant has had a few calls about the recall but no reports of illness, spokeswoman Tracy Pawelski said.
At Giant, the affected products include: Giant brand 85 percent, 90 percent and 96 percent lean ground beef, Giant brand meat loaf mix, Giant brand meatballs, Nature's Promise ground beef and Nature's Promise ground beef patties.
Fairbank supplies Giant with less than 15 percent of its ground beef, Pawelski said. Specific affected UPC codes are available at giantfoodstores.com, under "Product Recalls."
At BJ's, the products include: five-pound trays of fresh ground beef patties that contain 15 percent fat; three- and five-pound trays of lean ground beef that contain 7 percent fat; and two-and-a-half-pound trays of meatloaf and meatball mix.
Other regional stores involved in the Fairbank recall include: Trader Joe's, Acme, Shaw's, Ford Brothers and Price Chopper. Some Lancaster Brand and Wild Harvest products also are affected.
For more information, log on to: www.fsis.usda.gov.
