HelloFresh Ground Beef Linked to E. coli Outbreak: Check If Your Meal Kit is Affected

If you received a HelloFresh meal kit with ground beef between July 2 and July 21, you should throw out that meat. The ground beef, which comes in a 10-ounce vacuum-sealed packaged, was consumed by six people who ended up hospitalized. So far, the sickness has affected people in six states: Washington, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey.

You can check if your package is contaminated by looking for the label "ground beef 85% lean/15% fat" and has "EST.46841" inside the USDA inspection mark and "EST#46841 L1 22 155" or "EST#46841 L5 22 155" on the side of the packaging.

Experts are looking into whether any other ground beef is contaminated, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday.

The CDC added that you should throw out any frozen ground beef, and wash the surfaces and containers it touched. Symptoms of E. coli poisoning include severe stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. They usually start within three to four days after consuming the bacteria.

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There have been seven illnesses recorded so far, though the CDC noted that "it usually takes 3 to 4 weeks to determine if a sick person is part of an outbreak."

HelloFresh said in an emailed statement that it "affects a small portion of HelloFresh customers in the US who received ground beef from one specific supplier."

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