Ground Beef Recalled in Parts of California

Ground beef recalled in parts of California

LOS ANGELES, July 2 (Xinhua) — Some supermarkets have pulled ground beef off their shelves in parts of California in response to a Nebraska beef recall connected to an outbreak of E. coli illnesses, health officials confirmed on Wednesday.

Omaha-based Nebraska Beef Ltd. recalled 531,707 pounds of ground beef produced since May after some of its product, sold by Kroger Co., was linked to reports that as many as 38 people in Ohio and Michigan had become ill, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Kroger immediately recalled its beef products from those states, where a U.S. probe into the illnesses is continuing.

Ralphs, a major chain of supermarkets in California, have posted signs in some of is shops that ground beef would be unavailable until Wednesday, a store manager in Hollywood of Los Angeles told the Los Angeles Times.

Ralphs is supplied by Kroger with ground beef.

Ralphs corporate spokespeople could not be reached to say how many area stores had removed the ground beef. But sources said supermarkets in Hollywood, Silver Lake and Orange County were affected.

E. coli can cause severe illness and even death. Symptoms of E. coli infection can include stomach cramps and diarrhea.

Federal agriculture officials were urging people to eat only ground beef that had been cooked to an internal temperature of 160.

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