Orange County Register

Ralphs is warning consumers that they may have bought ground beef linked to an E. coli outbreak in Ohio and Michigan.

The suspect beef, supplied by Nebraska Beef, was removed from Ralphs meat departments late Tuesday, a spokesman said today.

“The ground beef on our shelves today is from a different supplier that was not associated in any way with this recall,” Ralphs said in a statement released Wednesday morning.

But, the recalled meat may still be in refrigerators. Ralphs said consumers should look out for ground beef products in Styrofoam tray packages wrapped in clear cellophane or purchased from an in-store service counter with buy/sell dates from May 21 to July 3.

*As of Wednesday, no other supermarket chain has yet to be linked to the recalled ground beef, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Customers who purchased ground beef at Ralphs with sell-by dates of May 21 through July 3 may return them to their local Ralphs store for a full refund or replacement. Any product still in stores will also be tossed out, the company said.

The meat is tied to Nebraska Beef Ltd., identified as the supplier of ground beef products linked to E. coli illnesses reported last week in Michigan and Ohio. Last week, a Ralphs spokesman told the Orange County Register that local Southern California stores were not tied to the recall. That was before federal authorities this week identified Nebraska Beef as the supplier of the contaminated beef.

Late Tuesday, Kroger, the parent company of Ralphs, said it decided to expand its recall after Department of Agriculture officials named Nebraska Beef. Kroger stores receive meat from Nebraska, which has recalled about 532,000 pounds of beef.

“Kroger has expanded the recall due to new information provided by the USDA. This information links product produced by Nebraska Beef to the illnesses. As a precaution, Kroger is removing all ground beef supplied by Nebraska Beef during the dates provided by the USDA,” the company said in a statement released late Tuesday night.

Kroger said the following items are not included in this recall: ground beef sold in sealed tubes in one, three or five-pound packages and frozen ground beef patties sold in the frozen food section of its stores.

Ralphs, Orange County’s second largest supermarket, said stores should have signs posted in meat departments notifying customers about the recall.

“Kroger is also using its register receipt notification system that alerts customers about recalls of products they may have purchased,” the company said. (photo above)

Consumers who have questions about the recall may contact Kroger toll-free at 800-632-6900.

For a detailed list of recalled beef products, go here.

*updated noon Wednesday to include comment from USDA

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