Possible Contamination of Ground Beef Prompts Recall

A possible E. coli contamination is causing over 377,000 pounds of ground beef to be recalled from California and Nevada restaurants, health officials said Wednesday. No illnesses have been reported.

Ground beef is being recalled across California and Nevada. (ATVN)

Los Angeles-based Commercial Meat Co. distributed the ground beef, which was discovered to have a positive test for E. coli by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service during a routine test.

The products being recalled have the number "EST.4874" inside the USDA mark of inspection and were shipped between Sept. 7 and Oct. 6. These include bulk ground beef, ground beef patties, ground beef taco and ground beef chili.

E. coli is potentially deadly for young children, seniors and people with weak immune systems. The bacterium can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and kidney failure.

Fresco Food Distribution owner Al Lemoi explained that ground beef is particularly susceptible to contamination. E. coli is topical, but because ground beef is grinded, bacteria can easily spread across the entire food product. He praised the USDA's quick response to the situation and previous similar recalls, saying that the situation would be taken care of within this week.

When asked how disastrous is this event where so much product is being recalled, Lemoi said "I think that for this particular company it could be catastrophic, but for the industry it's a small insignificant amount."

Meanwhile, Lemoi advises consumers to clean utensils, wash their hands and cook meat thoroughly.