Beef Recall Affects over 60,000 Pounds

Ground Beef from Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., Publix Super Markets and Kroger Co. is Affected

Beef packages in at least three major grocery store chains could be contaminated with E. coli and are being recalled.

Ground beef from Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., Publix Super Markets Inc. and Kroger Co. is affected. The stores initiating the recall are mostly in the southeastern United States. The meat in question primarily came from National Beef Packaging Co. of Dodge City, Kansas.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Friday that National Beef had issued a recall order for over 60,000 pounds of beef after the Ohio Department of Agriculture found and reported the bacteria.

Products from Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina and Tennessee were mainly affected by the recall, but the contaminated meat could have been distributed nationally.

The agriculture department says there have been no reports of illness, but the company says it's investigating.

E. coli can cause stomach problems, including bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Cases have been known to be fatal.

The Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service urges consumers to safely prepare their meat products at temperatures of 160 degrees Fahrenheit and not risk judging meat's "done-ness" by touch or color, but through a thermometer.

The FSIS warns that anyone who has symptoms of E.coli infections should immediately seek medical attention.