Ground Beef Products Recalled Due to Potential Contamination

Ensuring the safety of food products is essential to human health — and there are occasional beef recalls that warn of potential risks. Issues around the safety of your food can involve pesticide usage on fruits and vegetables, how food is packaged, whether foods are bioengineered, and contaminants from factories and packing plants.

Contaminants can lead to food recalls, and consumers should know how to be aware of them.

Consumers rely on guidance from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to be confident in their food safety. The FDA and USDA offer food recalls and public health alerts to notify the public of possible dangers in their food. Keep reading to learn about some recent recalls, how to understand these different categories, and what to do if you've been affected.

According to a notice on Nov. 20, 2024, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), Wolverine Packing Co. is recalling over 167,000 pounds of ground beef for potential E.coli contamination. On Nov. 13, the Minnesota Department of Health notified FSIS of illnesses in people who had eaten ground beef, per CNN, which prompted FSIS to investigate and further triggered a recall.

Per the FSIS notice, fresh products have a "use by" date of 11/14/2024 and the frozen products have the production date 10/22/24. All products will have the establishment number "EST. 2574B" inside the USDA inspection mark.

According to an alert issued by the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), on May 1, 2024, Cargill Meat Solutions voluntarily recalled over 16,000 pounds of raw ground beef that may be contaminated with E.coli. All of the ground beef items were produced on April 26 and 27, 2024.

All products will have the establishment number "EST. 86P" on the product label and were shipped to Walmart stores nationwide. For specific recall lot codes, be sure to check the FSIS announcement here.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDS) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), nearly 7,000 pounds of ground beef products are being voluntarily recalled by Valley Meats, LLC. The meat was produced on Dec. 22, 2023, and the reason for the recall is possible E.coli contamination.

Customers who may have purchased contaminated products should be on the lookout for packages with the establishment number "EST. 5712" on the packaging.

There are currently no cases of illnesses associated with this recall, reports USA Today, but a full list of contaminated products is available via the recall announcement.

On Nov. 19, 2023, Skyline Provisions, Inc., voluntarily recalled roughly 5,620 pounds of ground beef products that may be "contaminated with foreign objects", as per the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS).

The ground beef items in question were produced on Aug. 19, 2023. The issue was discovered after a customer reported that they discovered a foreign object during food preparation.

Consumers who may have purchased these products may want to check for the following details:

• 20-lb carton boxes containing 4 packages of "SKYLINE PROVISIONS, INC. GROUND BEEF 81/19" with "ITEM # 000248" on the label.
• 20-lb carton boxes containing 4 packages of "SKYLINE PROVISIONS, INC. GROUND BEEF 75/25" with "ITEM # 000293" on the label.

The items were shipped to the following states: New York, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Maine and Massachusetts.

On Sept. 15, 2023, the USDA announced that approximately 58,281 pounds of raw ground beef had been recalled due to potential E. coli contamination. The recalled beef comes from American Foods Group, LLC, better known as Green Bay Dressed Beef, LCC. The ground beef in question were produced on Aug. 14, 2023, and were shipped to distributors in Ohio, Michigan, and Georgia.

Customers who may have purchased these products may want to check for the following details:

• 10-lb. plastic tubes of "90050 BEEF FINE GROUND 81/19"
• 10-lb. plastic tubes of "20473 BEEF HALAL FINE GROUND 73/27"
• 10-lb. plastic tubes of "20105 BEEF FINE GROUND 73/27"

On April 20, 2023, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA issued a Class I recall of over 2,000 pounds of raw ground beef burger products from Weinstein Wholesale Meats. The products were 10.7-ounce packages of two raw ground beef burger patties. They were sold nationwide via online distributors.

Customers who may have purchased the product should check the packaging for the following details:

• 100% Grass Fed & Finished Beef Burger Patties 85% Lean/15% Fat
• Use/Freeze By 4/11/23
• USDA mark of inspection with Est. 6987.

Those who have the recalled items should throw them away. Consumer complaints led authorities to discover the beef could be contaminated with pieces of white neoprene.

In March 2023, Elkhorn Valley Packing, a Kansas plant, recalled about 3,436 pounds of boneless beef chuck product. Items were potentially contaminated with "Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) O103." Routine testing by the FSIS confirmed a positive sample with STEC, though no confirmed reports of adverse reactions had been found yet.

The affected product was labeled Elkhorn Valley Pride Angus Beef 61226 BEEF CHUCK 2PC BNLS; Packed on 2/16/23. EST. M-19549 is on the USDA mark of inspection. The main symptoms of STEC infection include diarrhea and vomiting, and most infected people are urged to treat it with rehydration.

The USDA issued a public health alert in September of 2022 due to worries that ground beef products used in HelloFresh meal kits might be "associated with Escherichia coli (E. coli) O157:H7 illness." The affected items were shipped between July 2 and 21 in 2022. The reason the product was not a beef recall is that it was no longer available for sale, but affected customers needed to throw out the meat.

These are the details customers needed to look for: 10-oz. plastic vacuum-packed packages of “GROUND BEEF 85% LEAN/15% FAT”. They should also include either of these codes: “EST#46841 L1 22 155” or “EST#46841 L5 22 155” on the side of the packaging.

Those who purchase beef products need to be aware of public health alerts and food recalls. Often, major food recalls are reported in the news, but you can also stay informed at all times by periodically checking the FDA and USDA websites for updated food recalls.

You should follow recall instructions to either dispose of the product or return it to the place of purchase. Clean any potentially contaminated surfaces in your home with a sanitizing solution as well.

The USDA has three classes of food recalls.

• Class I: high or medium risk; you have a "reasonable probability" of serious bad reactions or death
• Class II: low risk; the possibility is "remote" that you'll suffer health reactions
• Class III: the product will not cause bad consequences.

The FDA issues food recalls for foods that it believes may cause people to become ill. This may be due to discovery of foreign objects (like the neoprene in one recent beef recall), discovery of allergens not disclosed on the label, or discovery of bacteria like Salmonella.

On top of these recalls, beef is one of the most environmentally unsustainable foods out there; not to mention, it's also incredibly cruel to cows, and red meat is associated with various negative health impacts. To reduce your environmental impact, check out our favorite vegan steak options and other exciting vegan meat products.

This article, originally published on May 22, 2023, has been updated to reflect new beef recalls,