Yes, there is a ground beef recall, but not for beef sold at grocery stores

Over the last couple of months, there have been recalls of millions of pounds of meat for listeria concerns and of carrots for potential E. coli contamination.

Searches for “recalled ground beef” are trending on Google while some on social media are claiming that hundreds of thousands of pounds of ground beef have been recalled.

THE QUESTION

Is there a ground beef recall for potential E. coli contamination?

THE SOURCES

• U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
• Minnesota Department of Health
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

THE ANSWER

Yes, there is a ground beef recall for potential E. coli contamination, but the recalled meat was not sold in grocery stores.

WHAT WE FOUND

Wolverine Packing Co. is recalling about 167,277 pounds of ground beef products due to potential E. coli contamination, according to a Nov. 20 announcement from the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

The recalled beef is not sold in stores. The FSIS says the beef was shipped to restaurant locations nationwide. The FSIS did not name the restaurants where the beef was distributed.

Restaurants can identify the recalled beef by looking for establishment number “EST. 2574B” inside the USDA mark of inspection. Fresh products have a “use by” date of 11/14/2024, and frozen products have a production date of 10 22 24.

The FSIS has shared a list of product labels for the recalled beef.

The FSIS says the problem was discovered after the Minnesota Department of Agriculture notified them of a group of people who reported eating ground beef before becoming sick.

On Nov. 15, the Minnesota Department of Health urged people to contact their healthcare provider if they ate a hamburger at a table-service restaurant anytime after Oct. 31 and developed diarrhea, particularly bloody diarrhea.

At the time, the Minnesota Department of Health reported that infected people ate the contaminated meat between Oct. 31 and Nov. 7. The FSIS said all 15 reported infections so far have been in Minnesota.

E. coli is a kind of bacteria that can be found in many places, including the intestines of people and animals. Most kinds of E. coli are harmless and part of a healthy intestinal tract, but some E. coli can make people sick with diarrhea, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, sepsis and other illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The kind of E. coli found in the contaminated beef can cause dehydration, stomach cramps that last two to eight days and diarrhea that is often bloody, according to the FSIS, although the Minnesota Department of Health also notes that patients usually have no fever or a low-grade fever.

Most people recover in five to 10 days, but about 5% of infections lead to hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), a severe complication that involves acute kidney failure, the Minnesota Department of Health says.

HUS can occur to people of any age, but is most common in older adults and children under 5 years old, the FSIS says. Symptoms include easy bruising, pale skin and decreased urine output. People who experience these symptoms should immediately seek emergency medical care.