Warning on tainted ground beef follows second recall

State public health specialists are warning consumers that ground beef contaminated with E. coli bacteria may have been sold by four Massachusetts supermarkets, in a second, unrelated outbreak affecting the state in a week.

Shaws, Price Chopper, Trader Joe’s, and Wild Harvest may have sold fresh ground beef products distributed by Fairbank Farms, an Ashville, NY, meat distributor, Massachusetts health officials said today. The US Department of Agriculture has linked illnesses in Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Maine to ground beef contaminated with the same strain of E.coli:O157:H7. Each package had "EST. 492" inside the USDA inspection mark or on the nutrition label. For information on specific products at the four stores, go to the USDA site.

Today's news follows an unrelated E. coli outbreak last week in which more than 20 children and adults from Rhode Island became ill after eating ground beef at Camp Bournedale in Plymouth. South Shore Meats in Brockton recalled ground beef that had been distributed in institutional size packages.

Because raw meat can contain disease-causing bacteria, health specialists urge consumers to cook meat fully to a temperature of 160 degrees F, the level necessary to destroy disease-causing organisms such as E.coli, Campylobacter, and Salmonella.

E. coli can be deadly in the very young, the very old, and people with weakened immune systems. More information is available through the state Department of Public Health.