Ground beef in meal kits may have been contaminated with E. coli
Some HelloFresh meal kits shipped in July may contain ground beef contaminated with E. coli.
The Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service issued an alert Saturday telling consumers who received the kit to throw the beef away if it's still in their freezers.
Food safety officials think the beef may have resulted in multiple E. coli infections, but the USDA did not specify how many cases have been identified.
The ground beef in question was shipped to consumers in meal kits from July 2 to 21. It came in a 10-ounce package with the label "EST.46841" next to the USDA mark of inspection. The sides of the packages contained one of two codes: EST#46841 L1 22 155 or EST#46841 L5 22 155.
The full kits are not being recalled, since they’re no longer sold, but the USDA said people might have frozen the ground beef to cook later.
The USDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are still investigating the outbreak and have so far determined that several people who got sick had received beef produced at one particular establishment.
A HelloFresh spokesperson said the USDA alert "affects a very small portion of HelloFresh customers in the U.S. who received ground beef from one specific supplier."
"The USDA issued a public health alert out of an abundance of caution. We are closely partnering with the USDA and the supplier in question," the spokesperson added.
The E. coli strain behind the outbreak, known as O157:H7, can cause severe symptoms, including bloody diarrhea, intense stomach cramps and, in rare cases, kidney failure.
Another recent outbreak of the same strain, likely linked to romaine lettuce served on Wendy’s burgers and sandwiches, resulted in 97 confirmed cases, 43 of which required hospitalization, as of Sept. 1.
Cooking ground beef kills bacteria, including E. coli, but the meat's temperature must reach 160 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.
The CDC recommends checking the temperature using a meat thermometer and says that raw meat should not be out of the refrigerator for more than two hours. Refrigerators should be set to 40 degrees or below, and raw meat should be kept away from other foods. After preparing raw meat, wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water.
