Cuyahoga Falls Stores Remove Ground Turkey From Shelves for Salmonella Risk

Meat giant Cargill Inc. is recalling close to 36 million pounds of ground turkey -- including products sold locally at area  under its store brand label and under the Honeysuckle Brand -- following a salmonella outbreak that has killed one and sickened more than 70 people across the country, including some in Ohio.

The United States Department of Agriculture announced Wednesday that the products may be contaminated with a multi-drug resistant strain of Salmonella Heidelberg.

Cargill products potentially affected were produced at the company’s Springdale, Ark. facility from Feb. 20, 2011, through Aug. 2, 2011, according to a company press release.

Giant Eagle stores in Northeast Ohio began removing the food giant’s ground turkey products from its shelves and meat cases Wednesday.

Acme's 11 Northeast Ohio stores, including Cuyahoga Falls, Fairlawn, West Akron and Norton also have removed the potentially contaminated product.

Both Acme and Giant Eagle are offering full refunds for returned ground turkey.  

Fairlawn store could not be reached, so it is not known whether the store carried the product subject to this recall. The honeysuckle brand is carried by Walmart through its web site.

Products on the Recall List Sold at Giant Eagle:

Service Meat Case Giant Eagle

• Jalapeno turkey burger

• Italian turkey burger           

• Garden vegetable turkey burger           

• Italian seasoned ground turkey

• Taco seasoned ground turkey

• Fresh ground turkey breast           

• Ground turkey

Self Service Case Items                                   

• Honeysuckle ground turkey value pack, 3 pound         

• Honeysuckle fresh ground turkey                                             

• Honeysuckle 99 percent lean ground turkey breast                     

• Honeysuckle white ground turkey patties                       

• Giant Eagle 99 percent and 93 percent lean ground turkey           

Giant Eagle is researching its Giant Eagle Advantage Card database to compile the list of customers who have purchased Cargill meats at its stores.

The Acme Freshmarket store in Montrose is researching whether it sold affected meat, and will refund any product returned to its store.

Here’s a full recall list of Cargill products. Customers with questions regarding the recalled ground turkey products may contact Cargill’s consumer relations at 1-888-812-1646 or the Giant Eagle Customer Care center at 1-800-553-2324. The corporate office for Acme is 330-733-2263.