Massive Recall of Ground Beef after E.coli Illnesses

Valley Meat Co. based in California is recalling 1 million pounds of ground beef due to e. coli related illnesses. The ground beef being recalled was manufactured between October 2, 2009 and January 12, 2010. The affected meat was mainly sold in frozen ground beef patty form. The situation was reported by California officials to the federal government in the middle of July.

The company is working to remove the products from the shelves of grocery stores in California, Texas, Oregon, Arizona and across the globe. The beef was sold under the Safeway and various other labels. Seven people in California have been sickened with a rare form of the e.coli bacteria dating back to February of this year. The illnesses have been tentatively traced back to the Valley Meat products. Anybody that has this product in their freezer is asked to throw it away. Consumers can return the product to the store, they purchased it from for a full refund. The effected products are labeled with “EST. 8268.”

This is the first time in 50 years the Valley Meat Co. has had to make a recall. The company promises consumers it is thoroughly investigating the problem and will take steps to ensure the safety of future products.