Stores and delis across the United States might have received E. coli-contaminated beef associated with Wolverine Packing Co.'s recent recall of 1.8 million pounds of meat.
Employees of various establishments are taking questionable meat supplies off store shelves as a precaution, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture information CNN obtained on Monday.
Gordon Food Service Marketplaces in Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wisconsin could have been affected.
The list of stores that potentially received contaminated meat also included Stuart, Florida's Giorgio's Italian Delicatessen; Blairsville, Georgia's Blairsville Seafood Market; Orleans, Michigan's M Sixty Six General Store; and North Dakota's Bronson's Super Valu.
Jason's Super Foods in New Town, N.D.; Buchtel, Ohio's Buchtel Food Mart; Erwin, Tenn.'s Quick Stop; Maynardville, Tenn.'s Virginia Market, Nashville's Barger Foods, and Wytheville, Va.'s Virginia Heights Travel Store were listed as well.
Consumers should discard meat containing number EST.2574B, and production dates March 31 and April 18, 2014, or bring them back to the store where they were first purchased.
A spokesman for Wolverine Packing said the company issued the recall for safety reasons.
"While none of the Wolverine Packing product has tested positive for the pathogen implicated in this outbreak, the company felt it was prudent to take this voluntary recall action in response to the illnesses and initial outbreak investigation findings," Chuck Sanger said in a statement, CNN reported.
According to CNN, the meat comes under several food labels, and originates from Wolverine's Detroit, Mich. facility.
USDA's Office of Public Health Science assistant administrator told CNN information about what eateries received the meat does nothing for those it struck ill.
"People who were exposed were already exposed, so it doesn't help the public to tell them now that a certain restaurant was associated with these illnesses," David Goldman said. "Our job really is to identify product that may still be available."
Goldman also noted that the number of those affected fluctuates each day.
"The number changes. Yesterday, it was on the order of nearly 40 states, but we don't - that number changes. That's part of the process too, is to identify where the food - the meat in this case - was actually distributed," Goldman said.
