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Aldi is recalling ground beef sold in Illinois and other states due to E. coli contamination by a Colorado beef processing facility.
The meat, used or frozen on July 10, was sold by Aldi in the form of 80% fresh ground beef in 2-pound packages and 4-pound pies, one-third of a pound. The product includes the stamp "EST.85M" inside the inspection mark of the US Department of Agriculture, the company said.
Aldi, headquartered in Batavia, has sold the affected product to stores in 11 states, including Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. It has also been sold to Aldi customers in the Chicago area through a partnership with the Instacart Food Delivery Service.
The beef was produced at Cargill Meat Solutions in Fort Morgan, Colorado, which released Wednesday a national recall of 132,600 pounds of mandrel after a E. coli an epidemic killed one person and became ill 17.
Aldi has released the voluntary recall "by an abundance of caution," according to a statement sent by email to the Tribune. The chain of discount food stores issued the recall notice on its website Friday afternoon.
"We take the safety and integrity of the products we sell very seriously," the company said.
Aldi operates more than 1,800 stores in the United States in 35 states.
Grocery chains in the Chicago area, Mariano's and Jewel-Osco, were not affected by the Cargill recall, the two companies said Thursday.
The USDA said the ground chuck was manufactured and packaged on June 21 and shipped to retail outlets nationwide.
On August 16, the USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service determined that the raw ground beef produced at the Cargill plant was the likely source E. coli epidemic that sickened 18 people, mainly in Florida, with dates of onset of the disease from July 5 to 25.
Most people infected with E. coli develop diarrhea and vomiting and usually recover within a week. In some cases, a serious infection can lead to kidney failure.
Cargill has identified the 3, 10 and 20 pound chubs sent to distributors before being repackaged to be sold in grocery stores, but the USDA still needs to post the distribution list on its website.
"This product was produced in June and no product will be on the market for consumers," said Cargill spokesperson April Nelson. "They can feel confident to go to a store and buy a chuck."
Since the affected beef has expired in July, the main concern is that part of the product may be stored in freezers.
"If you have the affected product in your home, please discard it immediately or return it to your local store for a full refund," Aldi said.
Twitter @RobertChannick
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