400 tons of beef recalled from Calif. plant

A Fresno, Calif., meat plant is recalling more than 400 tons of ground beef shipped this summer because of an outbreak of a drug-resistant salmonella strain.

The recall, announced Thursday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, focuses on 825,769 pounds of ground beef produced by Beef Packers Inc. The meat was shipped in June to retail distribution centers in California, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

It's the nation's largest beef recall this year, and the second largest recall of ground beef since the beginning of 2008.

The USDA classified the recall as Class 1, its highest level of risk. State health officials in Colorado said 21 people were sickened last month by a strain of salmonella called Newport that has been traced to ground beef shipped from the Fresno plant.

Of 40 cases of salmonellosis in nine states, five have been reported in California, including the two in Tulare County, said Dr. Mark Horton, the state public health director.

The Newport strain of salmonella bacteria is resistant to several common antibiotics.

Rebecca Hayne, a spokeswoman for Cargill Inc., which owns the Fresno plant, declined to identify retailers who received the beef. "We're working with them very closely right now to make sure any of this product cannot be purchased by consumers," Hayne said.

Customers are encouraged to contact their retailer if they have meat involved in the recall.

"We don't believe there's any left out there unless it's in someone's freezer," Hayne said. The recalled meat was produced between June 5 and 23 and shipped with "use/freeze by" dates between June 23 and July 14.

Hayne said the suspected ground beef was shipped to retail distribution centers in bulk cases of 60 or 80 pounds and repackaged for shipment to individual stores.

Hayne said it's not yet known whether the contamination occurred at the Fresno plant, in a retail distribution center or at retail stores.

In Colorado, at least 15 people confirmed to have contracted salmonellosis ate ground beef purchased at Safeway stores.

Safeway Inc. announced Thursday that it is recalling fresh ground beef sold between June 6 and July 14 at stores in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming.