Ground Beef Recall Hits Multiple States Including Washington

In my view, one of the more important aspects of the role that the US Department of Agriculture has is food safety. The latest instance of the US Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service doing their job is the most recent announcement regarding a recall of ground beef in Washington state. 

According to seattletimes.com,
‘Mountain West Food Group, of Heyburn, Idaho, is recalling around 2,855 pounds of raw ground beef sold under its Forward Farms label with a Jan. 13 sell-by date, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service.
No confirmed reports of illness have been linked to the grass-fed ground beef, which is sold in 16-oz packages, the agency said.' 

Mountain West Food Group made the announcement after the USDA tested their grass-fed ground beef product and discovered E coli O26. E coli O26 is very similar to E coli O157:H7 and can make you seriously sick. 

Here's what you need to look for. 

Since this product was put on the shelves on December 16th, it's highly possible that you might have it still sitting in your refrigerator or freezer right now. Look for Forward Farms label Grass fed ground beef in 16-ounce packages with a sell-by date of January 13th. 

Approximately 2,855 Pounds of the product were distributed to stores in six states including Washington, Montana, Pennsylvania, Colorado, California and Idaho. 

Just a note, any questions you have about this food recall can be directed to Jeremy Anderson, CEO of Mountain West, at 208-679-3765 or info@mountainwestfoodgroup.com. 

Food recalls were up in 2025 for the first nine months of the year. USDA Food Inspection Service recalls were up by 7% from last year. The number of food recalls overseen by the Food and Drug Administration was up by 14%.