Some of the ground beef it sold was responsible for several e-coli illnesses, and it recalled all of the ground beef from all of its stores that had been purchased from Nebraska Beef. Ironically, and ominously from a food safety perspective, Nebraska Beef was not on Whole Foods approved supplier list, but its product made its way into the Whole Foods supply chain through another brand.
Whole Foods grinds its own beef in order to ensure quality and safety, but, apparently, the Nebraska Beef meat was contaminated before it was ground. WF is now inspecting all shipments of meat and tightening its supplier guidelines.