Jouni Meats, Inc., a Sterling Heights, Mich. retail store, is recalling approximately 500 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with a strain of Salmonella Typhimurium, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced. In a separate recall, Gab Halal Foods, a Troy, Mich. retail store, recalled approximately 550 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with a the same strain of Salmonella.

The products subject to recall are various size packages of ground beef. These products were produced between Dec. 4, 2012, and Dec. 9, 2012, and distributed to a restaurant in Macomb County, Mich., and sold directly to consumers at Jouni Meats Inc. and Gab Halal Foods.  These products were sold without a label.

This recall has been initiated because of concerns involving a cluster of Salmonella Typhimurium illnesses that may be associated with consumption of raw ground beef from a restaurant in Macomb County, Mich. Working in conjunction with the Michigan Department of Community Health, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Arizona Department of Health Services, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), FSIS determined that there is a link between the ground beef products from the two stores and this illness cluster. Based on epidemiologic and traceback investigations, 7 case-patients with the same outbreak strain have been identified in Ariz. and Mich. with illness onset dates ranging from December 9, 2012, to December 13, 2012. The 7 case-patients consumed raw beef kibbeh on December 7, 2012, and December 8, 2012. It is not known at this time if this outbreak strain has any drug resistance; results are pending. FSIS is continuing to work with public health partners and CDC on this investigation. FSIS will continue to provide information as it becomes available.

Source: FSIS