According to the United States Department of Agriculture, Whole Foods Market announced on Friday a voluntary recall of the fresh ground beef it sold between June 2 and August 6, due to the fact that it may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, which can cause serious food poisoning in humans.

The source of the possibly dangerous meat was a Whole Foods supplier, Coleman Natural Beef, whose Nebraska Beef processing plant is recalling 1.2 million pounds of presumptive contaminated beef. The multi-state recall includes New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Consumers who may have bought ground beef in this period of time should throw away the foodstuff and bring the packaging or the receipt back to the store in order to receive full refund.

“While Coleman Natural Beef is a relatively small supplier for Whole Foods Market, we are extremely disappointed that we must now question Coleman’s assurances,” stated Edmund Lamacchia, national vice president of procurement.

A spokeswoman for Whole Foods, the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods, said 9 cases of people who become ill after purchasing products at its stores have been reported; 7 in Massachusetts and 2 in Pennsylvania, a Whole Foods press statement said. 

The recalled beef might have been sold at Whole Foods stores in the states of Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and others, in addition to Washington, D.C., and Canada. However, the Austin, Texas-based company proclaimed that none of the contaminated meat is currently put up for sale in any of its retail establishments, but it continues to investigate possible E. coli outbreaks.

E. coli infection can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea, dehydration and in severe cases, kidney failure. If present, E. coli bacteria should be killed by cooking ground beef to an internal temperature of more than 160 degrees.