Fairbank Farms, an Asheville, N.Y.-based ground beef supplier, has issued a voluntary recall for fresh ground beef sold in eight eastern states, after it emerged that about 545,699 pounds produced by the company between Sept. 14 and Sept. 16 might be tainted with E.coli O157:H7.

“Our current priorities are to inform the public and address their concerns,” noted Fairbank Farms CEO Ron Allen. “Further, we want to help them to identify and remove any of the recalled products that may be in their freezers.”

The recalled products are past their expiration dates by 23 to 32 days, meaning that they’re no longer being sold as fresh product in supermarkets. The products were sold in Connecticut, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

According to Fairbanks Farms, all package labels have an establishment number of EST 492 inside the USDA mark of inspection. Items affected by the recall were sold at such grocers as BJ’s Wholesale Club, Giant-Carlisle (not to be confused with fellow Ahold division Giant-Landover, which was not affected by the recall), Price Chopper, Shaw’s and Trader Joe’s under the various stores' brands.

Also included in the recall are cases of 10-pound Fairbank Farms fresh ground beef chubs distributed to retailers in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia for further processing. These products had a sell date of Oct. 3, Oct. 4 or Oct. 5, but will likely not carry those dates on their package labels.

The possibly tainted meat may be connected to at least 28 cases of E. coli illness and two deaths.

For more information, visit www.fairbankfarms.com.