A few tons of ground beef from a meat processor in Pennsylvania have been recalled over fear of possible E. coli contamination. As of early Monday morning, the only retail outlets identified as possibly having received the ground beef were BJ’s Wholesale clubs in Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York and Virginia.

The source of the potentially tainted meat was Cargill Meat Solutions Corp. in Wyalusing, PA, which shipped the 42-pound packs out to distributors on June 11 for repackaging in to consumer-size packages.

Since the recalled beef has been repackaged and rebranded the only identifying information from the USDA is for the larger packages shipped out by Cargill:
* 42-pound cases of “GROUND BEEF FINE 90/10,” containing three (3) – approximately 14 pound chubs each. These products have a “use/freeze by” date of “07/01/10,” and an identifying product code of “W69032.”

Though the use by date has long since passed, USDA is concerned that some customers may still have tainted meat sitting in a freezer waiting to turn your bathroom into a Sam Raimi horror film should you consume it.

The USDA knows of at least three cases of E.coli-related illness in New York and Maine that have been linked back to this shipment of ground beef.

Below is the complete list of retail stores believed to have possibly received tainted meat. The USDA warns that it’s possible some of these stores did not receive the icky beef, and that there may be stores missing from the list. Here is a link to the Dept.’s official list [PDF]

CONNECTICUT
BJ’s Wholesale Club
1046 Tolland Turnpike
Manchester, CT

MAINE
BJ’s Wholesale Club
110 Mt. Auburn Ave.
Auburn, ME

BJ’s Wholesale Club
513 Warren Avenue
Portland, ME

MARYLAND
BJ’s Wholesale Club
4201 Wholesale Club Drive
Baltimore, MD

MASSACHUSETTS
BJ’s Wholesale Club
287 Washington Street
Attleboro, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
777 Washington St.
Auburn, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
115 Erdman Way
Leominster, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
105 Shops At 5 Way,
Plymouth, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
5 Ward St
Revere, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
85 Cedar St
Stoneham, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
2085 Bay St.
Taunton, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
66 Seyon St
Waltham, MA

BJ’s Wholesale Club
622 Washington St
Weymouth, MA

NEW HAMPSHIRE
BJ’s Wholesale Club
400 Quality Dr.
Hooksett, NH

BJ’s Wholesale Club
8 Sexton Ave.
Nashua, NH

BJ’s Wholesale Club
262 Plainfield Rd.
West Lebanon, NH

NEW JERSEY
BJ’s Wholesale Club
941 Route 37 W
Tom’s River, NJ

NEW YORK
BJ’s Wholesale Club
1440 Central Ave.
Albany, NY

BJ’s Wholesale Club
5183 Transit Rd.
Clarence, NY

BJ’s Wholesale Club
Two Chevy Dr.
East Syracuse, NY

BJ’s Wholesale Club
131-07 40th Rd., Ste. A100
Flushing, NY

BJ’s Wholesale Club
300 Bellwood Dr.
Greece, NY

BJ’s Wholesale Club
232 Larkin Dr.
Monroe, NY

BJ’s Wholesale Club
756 State Highway 28
Oneonta, NY

BJ’s Wholesale Club
3303 Crompond Rd.
Yorktown Heights, NY

VIRGINIA
BJ’s Wholesale Club
2301 Taylor Rd.
Chesapeake, VA

Consumers with questions regarding the recall should contact the company’s Consumer Line at (877) 788-4953.

Consumers with food safety questions can “Ask Karen,” the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.

Pennsylvania Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O26 Contamination [USDA]

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