Peninsula Daily News news services
OLYMPIA – With a Clallam County woman and five other people in Washington sickened from E. coli bacteria, health officials are advising consumers to check any packages of ground beef they have with the Northwest Finest brand name.
A consumer alert was issued last week for products with “sell by” dates between Aug. 1 and Aug. 11.
Even though the products are thought to have been removed from store shelves, food safety inspectors “are concerned that people may have purchased the product, and,” said Donn Moyer, it may still be in the freezer a state Department of Health spokesman.
“We’re asking that they check the label,” he said. If they’ve bought beef products involved in the alert “discard it; don’t eat it,” Moyer said.
The action was taken after a possible link was found between the Northwest Finest ground-beef products and eight confirmed cases in Oregon and Washington of people sickened with E.coli O157:H7 illnesses.
The bacteria can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration, and in some cases is deadly.
Children, seniors and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk for the disease.
The products involved in the alert were made by Interstate Meat Distributors of Clackamas, Ore.
