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Organic beef. It's natural, juicy, delicious, expensive, and may come laced with E. coli. Beef, it's what's for dinner. 

Federal officials have announced the recall of 34,373 pounds of organic ground beef and hamburger patties produced by First Class Foods Inc. E. coli is no joke, it is a bacterium that is potentially deadly and can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, kidney failure and even death, the Los Angeles Times reports. Infants, seniors and those with weakened immune systems at most at risk for food-borne illnesses like E. coli.

The E. coli was spotted during a regular test of the facilities by First Class Foods. Fortunately there have yet to be any reported outbreaks in relation to the organic beef recall, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The organic beef recall includes:

• 16-ounce packages of Nature?s Harvest Organic Ground Beef Brick
• 16-ounce packages of Organic Harvest Organic Ground Beef Brick, sold singly and in three-packs
• 16-ounce packages of Nature?s Harvest Ground Patty, which contains four 4-ounce patties.

Consumers who wish to inspect their packages to determine whether they are part of the recall should look for potentially contaminated beef bearing the mark ?EST 18895? as well as either 10341 or 10350. Packages of organic beef matching that description should not be consumed. The beef was packaged and shipped December 7 and 16, 2010. It was shipped to California, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Washington and Wisconsin.

If you have questions regarding the recall, you can contact Lucienne Adams of First Class Foods at 310-676-2500.

Related Resources:

• Tainted Beef: Illnesses, Deaths and Mounting Beef Recalls Cause Concern (FindLaw's Common Law)
• Dancer Paralyzed by E. Coli in Bad Beef Sues Cargill Inc. (FindLaw's Injured)
• Types of Food Poisoning: e. Coli (FindLaw)