Kroger beef recall in 20 states, Arizona

Arizonans preparing to fire up the grill for a Fourth of July cookout need to take an extra look at the labels on their ground beef.

Fry's owner, The Kroger Co., announced Tuesday that it has expanded its recall of beef possibly contaminated with E.coli into 20 states, including Arizona.

Roger Sockman, spokesman for the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service, said the vast majority of the 5.3 million pounds of beef recalled already has been sold.

The at-risk items are ground beef products sold at Fry's with sell-by dates between May 21 and July 3. The products were packaged in Styrofoam trays and wrapped in cellophane or were purchased at an in-store meat counter. Kroger is also recalling its Private Selection Natural ground beef in 16 oz. packages that were sold in the self-service meat case. The affected sell-by dates for the product are July 1 through July 21.

Ground beef sold in sealed tubes in one-, three- or five-pound packages and frozen ground beef patties sold in the frozen food section are not included in the recall.

In a news release, Kroger asked all customers to carefully check the meat they have at home or in their freezers that might fall into that date range. Customers can return the meat to the store for a full refund or a replacement product.

Kendra Doyel, director of public relations for Fry's said they found out about the recall on Tuesday morning and within hours had removed all the affected beef from store shelves and warehouses. The meat was destroyed and stores were sanitized to remove any trace of contamination. The beef was replaced with new beef product from a different wholesaler.

"What is in the store currently is absolutely something that they can feel safe in feeding their family," Doyel said.

Fry's is also working to notify customers using Fry's VIP cards who might have purchased the tainted meat. If a Fry's VIP card was used in the purchase of the meat, the next time customers use that card they will be notified by the cashier that they purchased an at-risk product.

So far, the confirmed cases of E. coli have been confined to Ohio and Michigan.

Kroger initially issued a recall last week with the U.S. Department of Agriculture traced cases of E. coli to Kroger's meat supplier, Nebraska Beef of Omaha, Neb. Meat in Ohio and Michigan was recalled first before Kroger expanded the recall to include 20 states and several of its supermarket chains.

Ralph's stores in California also is affected.

Stockman said a total of 41 cases of E. coli have been confirmed in Ohio and Michigan between May 30 and June 20. No deaths have been tied to the outbreak, but 22 have been hospitalized.

Individuals should consult a doctor if they are experiencing symptoms associated with E. coli, such as stomach cramps or diarrhea.