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Kroger, Co. and Nebraska Beef, Ltd. have
initiated a recall of ground beef across 20 states. Last month, Kroger recalled ground beef after consumers in Michigan and Ohio became ill after eating ground beef purchased from Kroger grocery stores.
The meat was traced back to the Nebraska meat processor, which initially recalled about 531,707 pounds of beef. The recall was expanded to more than 5 million pounds on Thursday.
Kroger stores had already scrambled to get the potentially contaminated meet off their shelves, just about the time that people were beginning to stock up for this Fourth of July holiday.
The Kroger stores in Dallas-Fort Worth destroyed all of their recalled beef and replaced it with beef from other vendors. Even then, the new beef was inspected closer than normal to be on the alert for any contamination.
Consumers are now more wary about the purchase of ground beef. One customer, Wendy Schoppe, from Garland, TX stated,
"I'm looking at what I'm buying now," she said, examining the packaging and the label. "It's pretty scary."
Stores have posted advisories telling customers to bring back their ground beef with the "sell by" dates of May 16th to July 13th. They ask that you bring the meat back in the original Styrofoam tray with the clear plastic wrapping and they will issue a refund or replacement.
The recall does not include burger sealed in tubes or that have been made into patties in the frozen food isles. Nor does it include the brand Nolan Ryan's beef.
The timing for this recall isn't ideal, but it brings to our attention the reminder of food safety. There are many people who have already gotten the message before this recall.
Jeanne Lawrence of Richardson had just picked up some ground beef to make spaghetti and said,
"You see I didn't buy any tomatoes."
