AUSTIN, TX (August 12, 2008) Whole Foods Market is now extending its voluntary recall announced on August 8, 2008 to include Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Utah. The voluntary recall in select states was issued for fresh ground beef sold between June 2 and August 6, 2008 because of a concern that it may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria since the beef in question came from Coleman Natural Beef (now owned and operated by Meyer Beef), which used Nebraska Beef for processing.
On the evening of August 8, 2008, Nebraska Beef issued a USDA Class 1 recall of 1.2 million pounds of beef because of possible E. coli 0157:H7 contamination of which only very small percentage was destined for select Whole Foods Market stores. The vast majority of this recalled product went to other retailers.
As a precautionary measure, Whole Foods Market had previously voluntarily recalled fresh ground beef in select stores that received beef from the facility in question, after learning that state health departments in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania linked illnesses to nine Whole Foods Market shoppers.
Whole Foods Market’s Rocky Mountain Region, which is comprised of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Kansas, was not initially identified in the voluntary recall. Historically, the region has not sourced meat from the facility in question for ground beef. Upon further investigation, however, the region discovered it had received a small shipment in late June. At the time of discovery, all remaining product in the stores was pulled immediately.
We invite shoppers to continue to buy beef at our meat counters with confidence because currently there is absolutely no beef associated with this recall in our stores.
States now in the voluntary recall for ground beef purchased between June 2 through August 6, 2008 include: Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Washington D. C. and Wisconsin.
