Cargill recalls 36 million pounds of ground turkey

Patties, ground meat sold in grocery stores linked to salmonella death, illnesses

By JoNel AlecciaHealth writer
msnbc.com
updated 8/2/2011 1:15:17 PM ET

Meat giant Cargill Inc. is recalling nearly 36 million pounds of ground turkey linked to a California death and at least 78 other salmonella illnesses nationwide, company officials said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced the Class I recall, with the highest health risk, late Wednesday. All of the recalled products were produced at the company's Springdale, Ark., plant.

Products include "chubs" of fresh and frozen ground turkey meat, retail trays of ground turkey and ground turkey patties sold at grocery stores including Kroger, Safeway and Giant Eagle, according to company's recall list.

The massive recall follows the death of a Sacramento, Calif., resident tied to an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning that has sickened people in 26 states since March. At the family's request, no details about the death have been released.

In a statement, Cargill officials said the firm was suspending production of ground turkey at the Sprindale plant until it could identify the source of contamination and fix it.

“It is regrettable that people may have become ill from eating one of our ground turkey products and, for anyone who did, we are truly sorry,â€