DATE: Sunday, September 28, 1997            TAG: 9709280060

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: NORFOLK, NEB.                     LENGTH:   28 lines

NEBRASKA BEEF LINKED TO E. COLI IN VA.

A federal meat inspector is set to visit the BeefAmerica packing plant here Monday to investigate its possible link to tainted beef found in Virginia.

The planned inspection comes after E. coli bacteria was found in fresh ground beef at a supermarket in Emporia, Va., earlier this month, said Jacque Knight, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington.

The store's records indicate that the beef originated from the Norfolk, Neb., plant, Knight said.

BeefAmerica does not believe that the plant is the source of the contamination, said Keith DeHann, a company spokesman in Omaha.

Meat from the plant is not under recall, Knight said. She said no illnesses have been reported stemming from the tainted meat in Virginia.

The Great Valu Supermarket in Emporia, Va., is conducting a voluntary recall of any fresh ground beef sold in the store Sept. 3 or 4.

Knight said it is likely that the bacteria is isolated to the beef sold at the store those two days.

Knight said it appears the meat in question was shipped from the BeefAmerica plant in Norfolk, Neb., to a distributor in Richmond, Va., and then to the supermarket.

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