Consumer alert: Ground Beef Recall

(AP) - A New York meat company has recalled almost 546,000 pounds of ground beef because it may be contaminated
with a bacteria that has caused illness and one death, according to health officials.

The meat sold by Ashville, N.Y.-based Fairbank Farms was linked to cases of E. coli-related illness in Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Saturday. One person died and two others became ill, New Hampshire health officials said.

The beef has been sold in Pennsylvania, but so far there have not been any reports of deaths or illnesses in the state.

The ground beef is sold at Trader Joe's, Price Chopper, Lancaster, Wild Harvest, Shaw's, BJ's, Ford Brothers and Giant stores. Each package carried the number "EST. 492" on the label. They were packaged Sept. 15-16 and may have been labeled with a sell-by date from Sept. 19 through Sept. 28.

Also, ground beef packaged under the Fairbank Farms name was distributed to stores in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. That meat was likely repackaged for sale and would likely have differing package and sell-by dates.

The USDA was urging customers with concerns to contact the stores where they bought the meat.

Located in the southwestern corner of New York a few miles from the Pennsylvania line, Fairbank Farms has had two other voluntary recalls over the last two years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Symptoms of E. coli sickness include cramps that may be severe and diarrhea that may turn bloody within one to three days. E. coli can sometimes lead to complications including kidney failure.

Symptoms usually show up three to four days after a person eats contaminated food, although in some cases it can be as long as eight days. Officials said anyone having symptoms should immediately contact a doctor.

Detailed information about the voluntary recall can be found at the company's web site: http://www.fairbankfarms.com/ .