Beef Recall Update

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Nebraska Beef, Ltd., a meat processor in Omaha, Nebraska, is clarifying information and adding to its August 8 recall of primal cuts, subprimal cuts, and boxed beef.

The recall made national headlines because the cuts of beef had been distributed to retailers such as Whole Foods.

The update from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) brings the total amount of recalled beef to approximately 1.36 million pounds. The expansion includes:

• Primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef produced on June 24, whose shipping containers and labels bear the establishment number "EST. 19336" inside the USDA mark of inspection and the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd." The products may or may not bear a green sticker.
• Primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef produced on July 8, whose shipping containers and labels bear the establishment number "EST. 19336" inside the USDA mark of inspection, the company name "Nebraska Beef Ltd." as well as a 2-inch plain, circular green sticker on one side of the shipping box.

The original information from the recall included primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef that may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

These beef products were produced on June 17, June 24 and July 8, 2008. The shipping containers and product labels bear the establishment number “EST. 19336” inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as the brand “Coleman Natural.” However, these products were sent to establishments and retail stores nationwide for further processing and will likely not bear the establishment number “EST. 19336” on products available for direct consumer purchase. (This means that they were cuts of beef that would be ground up on site at various retailers, so consumers wouldn't see the original labels.)

FSIS has concluded that the production practices employed by Nebraska Beef, Ltd., on June 24 were insufficient to effectively control E. coli O157:H7, and the products added to the recall may have been produced under insanitary conditions.

FSIS makes clear on its website that Nebraska Beef, Ltd. is one establishment and this recall does not implicate all beef from the state of Nebraska.

Consumers with questions about the recall should contact company Vice President of Administration James Timmerman at 402-733-0456. Media with questions about the recall should contact company representative William Lamson at (402) 397-7300.

For more information, go to the FSIS website.

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