Ground Beef Recall

Three major grocery chains are involved in the recall of ground beef packages due to the possibility of e-coli contamination.  Two words in the reports caught my attention:  "Kroger" and "Southeast."  Did that mean the contaminated meat was sold in my area of Hampton Roads?  The answer:  maybe, and even that was somewhat difficult to find.

The suspect beef was sold in Kroger, Publix, Winn-Dixie and Wal-Mart stores in several Southeastern states, but not in Virginia.  However, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service website lists Sam's Club locations in a number of states, including Virginia, as a retailer involved in the recall.

Before you become overly alarmed at the prospect of another food recall, know this.  There have been no reports of e-coli poisoning connected to the affected food.  And this recall so far involves about 60,000 pounds of ground beef.  Compare that to the Hallmark Meat Packing recall of 2008, which targeted  140,000,000 pounds of meat.

Links:
USDA report on the recall
List of retailers affected by the recall (PDF)
Consumer Reports with details of the recall.