A meat company in Nebraska is recalling more than 167,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with the E. Coli bacteria, federal officials said.
There have been no confirmed reports of any illnesses linked to the beef, according to a Sunday statement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The problem was discovered in testing on Oct. 30.
Officials with All American Meats could not immediately be reached to comment on Monday.
E. coli is among a vast array of bacteria that live in the human gut and which cause no problems. But some strains can cause serious symptoms and even be life-threatening, and are spread by oral contact with fecal matter.
Also on Sunday, Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc said it had closed all its restaurants in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle due to a reported E. Coli outbreak. The chain said health officials in Oregon and Washington were investigating about 20 cases of E. coli, including six people who ate at the company's restaurants in those areas.
The ground beef recalled by All American Meats was produced on Oct. 16, sold in either 60- or 80-pound packages, and were shipped to retail locations nationwide, the USDA said.
The USDA and the company are concerned that some product may be frozen and in consumers' freezers, the agency said. The recalled products should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase.
All the affected meats had a sell-by date of Nov. 3 and bear the establishment number "EST.20420" inside the USDA mark of inspection, the USDA said.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman; Editing by Sandra Maler)
