of inspection or on the nutrition label . They were packaged on September 15 and 16 and may have been labeled at the retail stores with a sell-by date from September 19 through 28 , the USDA said . Consumers should ask at their point of purchase if the products they have purchased are subject to recall , the USDA said . E. coli can cause bloody diarrhea , dehydration , and in the most severe cases , kidney failure . The very young , seniors and people with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illness . The USDA 's Food Safety and Inspection Service advised consumers to safely prepare raw meat products , whether they are fresh or frozen , and only consume ground beef that has been cooked to a temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit . The only way to be sure ground beef is cooked to a high enough temperature to kill harmful bacteria is to use a food thermometer to measure the internal temperature , the FSIS said . Of the 28 people infected with E. coli from the outbreak , eight are in Massachusetts ; four each are in Connecticut and New
New York -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Two people have died and 28 people have fallen ill with matching strains of E. coli after an outbreak in ground beef , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said . Sixteen of those people are in hospitals and three have developed kidney failure as a result of the contamination , the CDC said late Monday . The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced last week that Fairbank Farms in Ashville , New York , was recalling more than half a million pounds of fresh ground beef products that may be contaminated with a strain of E. coli , a potentially deadly species of bacteria . The products subject to recall were sent to retailers including Trader Joe 's , Price Chopper , Lancaster and Wild Harvest , Shaw 's , BJ 's , Ford Brothers , and Giant Food Stores . The exact products affected are listed on the USDA 's Web site . The recall was for distribution centers in eight states , but Fairbank Farms said some retailers may have sent the affected beef to other states . Each package is printed with `` EST. 492 '' inside the USDA mark