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For the second time within a month, agriculture behemoth Cargill Inc. has had to recall a large amount of meat.

Cargill said it will recall 1.084 million pounds of ground beef from its Wyalusing, Pennsylvania, facility, which was produced between October 8 and October 11, and was distributed to a number of retailers across the U.S.

Some of the retail chains receiving the beef were Weis, Wegmans, Giant, Shop Rite and Stop & Shop.

The discovery of the E. coli bacteria in the meat, came from a confirmed positive from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service said they discovered this problem after following through on an investigation at another federal facility.

These specific products will include use/freeze-by dates between October 19 and November 3. Not all, but most, will also have the USDA establishment number of 9400 on the inside of the USDA mark of inspection.

John Keating, president of Cargill Regional Beef, said in a statement, "No illnesses have been associated with this product. We are working closely with the USDA to remove the product from the marketplace." 

On October 7, 2007, the company also had to recall 844,812 pounds of frozen beef patties from a Wisconsin plant.

At least some things are being discovered before a number of people start getting sick. Hopefully the majority of this will get off the market before anybody eats it.

Symptoms from E. coli 0157:H7 illness, the strain associated with the recall, are diarrhea, dehydration and possible severe stomach cramps. As usual, children and older people are most vulnerable.