Sam’s Club added to Safeway in ground beef recall

The meat involved in the latest ground beef recall was sold at Safeway and Sam’s Club stores in Colorado, the meat-packing company confirmed Friday.

The state health department initially stated that the meat was only sold in Safeway, but Beef Packers Inc. said Friday that part of 825,769 pounds of ground beef being recalled was also sold at Sam’s Club, 7News reports.

The government said the meat was originally sold with “use by” or “freeze by” dates that vary from June 5 to July 11.

But the Fresno, Calif., company that processed the meat was concerned it was still in stores as late as Thursday. The products may be linked to an outbreak of illness from salmonella.

Beef Packers said it is working with retailers to ensure that all of the ground beef subject to the recall has been removed from the meat case.

The products were distributed to Safeway stores in Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, South Dakota and New Mexico and Sam’s Club stores in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming; and Unified Grocers in Southern California.

The meat in the recall ranges from 90 percent lean to 96 percent lean.

If you have meat from Safeway or Sam’s Club, throw it away or return it to for a refund.

Click here for the 7News story.

THURSDAY STORY: If you have ground beef in your refrigerator or freezer, there is a new major recall you need to know about.

It involves ground beef sold by Safeway, and possibly other stores. It’s unclear what the other stores are because the company in California that processed the meat sends the meat in 40-, 60- and 80-pound packages to distributors who repackage it, 7News reports.

The government said the meat is being recalled because it’s making people in Colorado sick.

The government said the meat was originally sold with a “use by” or “freeze by” date that vary from June 5 to July 11. But the company said it may still be in stores. You can call Beef Packers at 1-877-872-3635 for more information. But the recording doesn’t have any detailed information yet. The company said it won’t have a list of stores that sold the meat until Friday.

Beef Packers, Inc., a Fresno, Calif. company, announced Thursday that it is recalling approximately 826,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be linked to an outbreak of illness from salmonella.

State health officials, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and several other state health departments have been investigating an outbreak of salmonella infections that are resistant to several commonly used antibiotics.

To date, the illnesses have been identified in 11 states. The majority of cases — 21 illnesses — have been reported in Colorado in the following counties: Arapahoe (3), Broomfield (3), Denver (3), Douglas (1), Elbert (1), Garfield (1), Jefferson (5), Mesa (1), Pueblo (1) and Weld (2).

Four people have been hospitalized, and all are recovering, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said.

Most people became ill during late June and early July, with the most recent illness occurring July 13. Because it can take at least two weeks for cases of illness to be reported to the state health department, it is possible additional cases may be reported. This is the second large outbreak of Salmonella the department has investigated since July 1. Both outbreaks have been linked to ground beef.

Click here for the 7News story.