"e coli" news and stories

About 35,000 pounds of ground beef has been recalled by a Southern California meat distributor for potential E. coli contamination, the Associated Press reported.

The affected beef was produced by the South Gate Meat Co. between June 7 and 21. It was shipped to Los Angeles area restaurants, the AP reported.

A person who answered the South Gate Meat telephone told the AP the company was meeting with the USDA and unavailable for comment.

More about the recall after the jump.

The outbreak of E. coli poisoning connected to romaine lettuce has spread to Tennessee, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 23. (There are seven other probable cases associated with the lettuce.) And what's worse, the strain of E. coli involved in the outbreak is rare and difficult to diagnose, so officials think there may be even more cases going unreported.

There have been two recalls of romaine lettuce related to the outbreak, both by distributors who purchased lettuce from the same Yuma, Ariz., farm. Ohio-based Freshway Foods announced a 23-state recall of romaine lettuce last week, while Vaughn Foods of Moore, Okla., announced a recall Monday.

WinCo Foods, a food seller operating in six Western states, has issued a recall on ground beef sold in all of its 70 stores, which are located in California, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Utah. This is an expansion of an earlier recall that affected only its Modesto, CA, stores, according to the Modesto Bee.

The original recall was announced on April 10. "Two samples of ground beef purchased at the Modesto store tested positive for E. coli O157:H7," wrote Brian Ramsay for the Bee, and consequently all tray-packed ground beef sold from April 3 through April 9 was recalled from the stores.

More on the recall after the jump.

Fried chicken. Photo: thebittenword.com, Flickr

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Orange beets from Encino. Photo: dichohecho, Flickr

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