According to a news release by the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service, Cargill Meat Solutions Corporation is issuing an immediate recall of approximately 29,339 pounds of ground beef bases on concerns that it may be contaminated with Salmonella Enteritidis.

The agency was made aware of the potential contamination during the course of an ongoing investigation of a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis involving 33 patients from seven states.

The recall includes 14 pound chub packages of “Grnd Beef Fine 85/15” and bears the establishment number “EST. 9400” inside the USDA mark of inspection. The meat was produced on May 25, 2012, and shipped to centers in Connecticut, Maine and New York for further distribution. The products are no longer available for purchase and the use-by date has passed, but the agency expressed concerns that the meat may still be present in consumers’ freezers.

According to a notification on the Cargill website, consumers with questions may review their ground beef recall information or call the company’s toll-free consumer relations line at 1-888-812-1646.

Proper handling is imperative when dealing with meat and meat products.

Stem cells used to grow hamburger in a laboratory may be served at a restaurant near you.

With a current price tag of $330,000 it will about 20 years before meat grown from stem cells will be available to meet the protein needs of the world.

The growing taste for meat in the developing world, especially in China and the limited arable land and water resources, have led scientists on a search for alternative ways of producing meat.

But there are concerns:

Many of the medical crises we’re seeing in the world today are partly due to some of the unnatural ways we’re manufacturing food – from the chemicals to preserve the taste, to the hormones to increase the size of produce, to the pesticides to control production. At the end of the day, all of these factors are taking a toll on our society.

The same Arkansas plant which recalled 36 million pounds of ground turkey last month has yet again found salmonella after recent testing following a temporary shutdown.

More ground turkey has been recalled due to a suspicion of salmonella.