The USDA has posted a list of retailers that received beef products recalled in late May by Aurora Packing Inc., that includes a number of Kroger Co. grocery stores. The beef was recalled by Aurora after federal testing found E. coli.
Aurora Packing’s May 22 recall of more than 62,000 pounds of various raw beef products, ranging from steaks to ground beef, did not include any distribution information except to say the beef was “shipped nationwide for further distribution and processing.”
On June 7, the Kroger Co. issued a recall of an unspecified volume of ribeye steaks and in-store ground beef because of possible E. coli contamination. Kroger did not say in the recall notice on its website who supplied the beef or how many pounds it was recalling.
A spokesman for the USDA told Food Safety News on Monday that the beef recalled by Kroger was included in the Aurora Packing recall. He said the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service did not post the Kroger recall because it included only products that were already under recall.
The recall by Kroger was an above-and-beyond action to ensure that customers could determine whether they had any of the beef in their homes, the USDA spokesman said. Kroger’s notice included a photo of specific labels that the company had put on the beef after receiving it from Aurora Packing.
No confirmed illnesses had been reported to the USDA in connection with the recalled beef as of Monday, according to the spokesman.
In keeping with its policies, the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service posted its first partial list of specific retail locations that received the beef products recalled by Aurora Packing. The list includes retailers in 10 states and is available by clicking here.
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