Beef recall affects area Fred Meyer and QFC stores

Cincinnati-based Kroger, which owns Fred Meyer and QFC supermarkets, issued a nationwide recall of ground beef Wednesday after its supplier was linked to E. coli illnesses in Michigan and central and northern Ohio.

The recall at Fred Meyer stores includes products that came from Omaha-based Nebraska Beef:

• Private Selection Natural Angus ground beef packaged in Styrofoam trays and wrapped in clear cellophane.

• Meat sold at in-store service counters with sell-by dates between May 21 and July 5.

• Ground beef sold in vacuum-sealed 16-ounce packages with sell-by dates of July 11 to July 21.

QFC stores do not carry meat from Nebraska Beef, but the chain is recalling items that may have come in contact with potentially contaminated ground beef or equipment at a grinding facility, QFC spokeswoman Kristin Maas said.

At QFC stores, the recall includes ground beef with use-by or freeze-by dates of May 21 to July 5. The first six digits of the UPC codes of affected products are:

• 241659 and 241661 for lean ground beef with 20 percent fat.

• 271665 and 271670 for extra-lean ground beef with 15 percent fat.

• 241670 and 241676 for leanest ground beef with 7 percent fat.

• 231677 for Laura's Lean Ground Beef with 4 percent fat.

Also covered in QFC's recall are five Chef's Express items: meatballs with the first six digits of the UPC 291196; meatloaf with code 291091; meatloaf with spinach, code 291297; stuffed peppers with code 291119; and beef mushroom burgers with code 291306.

Customers may return the products for a full refund or replacement.

As of Tuesday night, all the suspicious meat had been cleared from store shelves, said Melinda Merrill, spokeswoman for Fred Meyer's Western regional office in Portland.

"We've cleaned and sanitized all equipment that may have come into contact with the meat,"she said. "Everything that's on the shelves right now is safe."

The following items are not included in the recall:

• Ground beef sold in sealed tubes in 1-, 3- or 5-pound packages.

• Frozen ground-beef patties sold in the frozen-food sections.

• Fresh ground-beef patties sold at QFC stores.

Kroger officials say they have placed signs in meat departments about the recall. They can also track some customers who bought the meat through rewards-card data, and will alert them through e-mail and with messages printed on store receipts, Merrill said.

Kroger will use ground beef from other suppliers while USDA authorities try to determine how the meat at Nebraska Beef became contaminated, Merrill said. The illnesses were reported between May 31 and June 8.

No illnesses associated with the recall have been reported in Washington, said Donn Moyer, spokesman for the state Department of Health.

Seattle Times staff reporter Karen Gaudette contributed to this report.

Sonia Krishnan: 206-515-5546 or skrishnan@seattletimes.com