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Firm recalls 1.2 million extra pounds linked to illnesses in Pa., 11 other states.

OMAHA, Neb. — Federal authorities last month assured consumers that a meat plant linked to nearly 50 illnesses caused by tainted ground beef had made enough changes after a recall to ensure that its products were safe. Less than a month later, the same processor has recalled 1.2 million pounds of other beef products that might have sickened more than 30 people.
The changes made after the first recall of meat processed by Nebraska Beef Ltd. affected only ground beef, Laura Reiser, spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, said Saturday.
Nebraska Beef on Friday recalled 1.2 million pounds of primal cuts, subprimal cuts and boxed beef that were made on June 17, June 24 and July 8. The products have been linked to illnesses in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illlinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
As in the earlier recall, all the beef being recalled now was sold to retailers and other companies that planned to further process the meat. So product labels probably will not include the “EST 19336” code that identified Nebraska Beef.
A call to Nebraska Beef went unanswered Saturday.
Reiser said she wasn’t sure at the time of the first recall whether the USDA investigation had spread beyond the area of the Omaha plant that produces ground beef, which has been linked to at least 49 cases of E. coli in seven states.
But she said information compiled in the weeks after the June 30 recall showed another strain of the potentially deadly E. coli bacterium in other beef products.
“We were focused on the products that were going out for grinding,” she said Saturday. “We were focusing on the product that we tied to the (initial) illnesses.”
Some of Nebraska Beef’s products were sold by Whole Foods Market, which also announced a recall Friday. Whole Foods is recalling fresh ground beef sold June 2 to Aug. 6 because of worries about E. coli contamination.
A Whole Foods spokeswoman said it had received reports that seven people in Massachusetts and two people in Pennsylvania who shopped at Whole Foods became ill.