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Whole Foods Recalls Fresh Ground Beef

Meat came from troubled Nebraska Beef plant

August 10, 2008

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Upscale grocery Whole Foods has recalled fresh ground beef from all its stores after learning the meat could be tainted by E. coli.

The meat was purchased from Coleman Natural Foods, but was processed at Nebraska Beef, which recalled more than five million pounds of ground beef in May and June.

Nebraska beef recalled an additional 1.2 million pounds of beef produced in June and July, and that beef is included in the meat that found its way to Whole Foods.

Last week Massachusetts health officials reported six people had gotten sick with the particularly virulent E. coli O157:H7strain. By the end of last week, that outbreak had been traced to meat purchased from Whole Foods stores.

Whole foods began an investigation and contacted its meat supplier, Coleman Natural Foods. It was only then, the company says, that it learned the meat had originated at Nebraska Beef. The plant was already under close scrutiny by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"We will continue to investigate to see what is happening at the plant to see what they have to do to get a handle on their food-safety issues," said USDA spokeswoman Laura Reiser.

In early July USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service took the unusual step of publicly criticizing Nebraska Beef's operation. The agency said the company uses production practices that "are insufficient to effectively control E. coli O157:H7 in their beef products that are intended for grinding. The beef that was ultimately recalled may have been produced under unsanitary conditions, the agency said.

In a statement, Whole Foods said no beef secured from Coleman Natural Foods and sold between June 2 and August 6 is currently in any of its stores. It said its supplier had previously assured it than none of the recalled Nebraska Beef products were among the products it supplied to Whole Foods.

"While Coleman Natural Beef is a relatively small supplier for Whole Foods Market, we are extremely disappointed that we must now question Coleman's assurances," said Edmund Lamacchia, global vice president of procurement.

Whole Foods Market says customers who may have ground beef purchased beef from June 2 to August 6 to dispose of the product and return to the store with the packaging or receipt for a full refund.

"At Whole Foods Market, one of our top priorities is consumer safety, and we go to great lengths to ensure the safety and quality of our meats," said Lamacchia. "We are currently cooperating with the USDA, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the Montgomery County Health Department in Pennsylvania as part of a routine multi-state investigation into these confirmed cases of E. coli 0157:H7 infection."

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health issued warnings about the targeted beef. Whole Foods Market said it will continue to work with state and federal authorities as this investigation progresses.

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