A beef processing company will recall over 100,000 pounds of beef products from the market because they could be contaminated with E. coli.

The US Department of Agriculture announced that 129,000 pounds of beef products made by David Creek Meats, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, between March 1 and April 30 2006 for Gordon Food Service are suspected of E. coli contamination.

The products, which the company has voluntarily recalled, are distributed in 15 states (Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.).

The Michigan Department of Community Health identified the possible contamination when it investigated several cases of illness due to E. coli O157:H7. The bacterium can be fatal.

The recalled products include boxes of different weights of mechanically tenderized steak and ground beef.

While steaks are not usually considered a source of E. coli O157:H7, the situation is different here because the steak products being recalled were mechanically tenderized - bacteria may have been transferred from the surface to the inside of the meat.

The US Department of Agriculture advises consumers to return any recalled products to the point of purchase. Consumers should also make sure that ground beef is cooked to a minimum of 160 degrees Fahrenheit (71 degrees Celsius or Centigrade).

Persons most at risk in case of contamination with E. coli from the beef are children and the elderly. Symptoms of E. coli contamination are bloody diarrhea and dehydration. The symptoms usually last only a few days, but the illness can be fatal, the USDA warns.

There are approximately 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths due to foodborne illnesses occurring in the US each year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates there are 76 million cases of foodborne disease in the US every year.