Millions More Pounds of Ground Beef May Be Tainted

Before biting into that medium-rare burger, consumers are being advised to check when and where the beef was packed.

There’s a national salmonella outbreak going on, and a JBS SA plant in Tolleson, Arizona, is now recalling about 12 million pounds of raw beef, including ground beef, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. This expands an earlier recall of 6.9 million pounds in October.

The items were packaged from July 26 to Sept. 7 and shipped to more than 100 retailers under many brand names, the agency’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said in a statement. Recalled items have “EST. 267” printed inside the USDA mark of inspection on the package.

Tainted beef has sickened 246 people in one of more than a dozen food-related salmonella outbreaks this year.

JBS, the world’s largest meat producer, has already been hit with at least two lawsuits. One was from a Kentucky woman who said she was hospitalized after consuming beef originating from the JBS plant, which she bought from one of Walmart Inc.’s Sam’s Club stores. Sam’s Club didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

JBS conducted an internal investigation after the first illness linked to one of its products, and has decided to voluntarily test 100 percent of the beef trimmings produced in the Tolleson facility, the company said in a statement.

JBS is based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and operates a U.S. headquarters Greeley, Colorado.