More Beef Recalled, From Sam's Club

The Sam's Club warehouse chain has pulled a brand of ground beef patties from its shelves nationwide after four children who ate the food, produced by Cargill Inc., developed E. coli illness.

Cargill asked customers to return any remaining patties purchased after Aug. 26 to the store or destroy them.

The children became ill between Sept. 10 and Sept. 20 after eating ground beef patties that were bought frozen under the name American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties from three Sam's Club stores in the Twin Cities area.

One girl has been in the hospital for two weeks.

"These ground beef patties are in people's freezers, in their homes, so we want to get the word out so that they definitely don't eat them - throw them away or take them back to Sam's Club for a refund," Dr. Kirk Smith of the Minnesota Dept. of Health told CBS affiliate WCCO.

This isn't just affecting Minnesota Sam's Club stores, said WCCO correspondent Jason DeRusha; the chain has voluntarily pulled the product off of shelves across the nation.

"We can't be certain that meat from other stores is not involved, since the brand ... was likely sold at other Sam's Club locations," said Heidi Kassenborg, acting director of the dairy and food inspection division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.

Cargill, based in Wayzata, Minnesota, is one of the largest privately held U.S. companies and makes food ingredients, moves commodities around the world and runs financial commodities trading businesses.

The patties were produced by Cargill and had an expiration date of Feb. 12, 2008, Sam's Club said in a statement. Cargill spokesman Mark Klein said the company has been cooperating with state Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to determine the scope of the issue.

Cargill learned of the issue Friday, when a compliance officer from the federal Agriculture Department visited the company's ground beef facility in Butler, Wisconsin, Klein said. Officials had traced the patties back to that plant.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is working with the federal Agriculture Department to determine the source of the contamination.

Symptoms of E. coli illness include stomach cramps and diarrhea. People typically are ill for two to five days but can develop complications including kidney failure.

Sam's Club warehouse is owned by Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world's largest retailer, based in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The company issued a statement which read in part, "We want our Members to know we are doing all that we can to resolve this matter with our supplier and the appropriate agencies."