Ms. Schafer also said all the recalled products were 23 to 32 days past their sell-by dates as of Monday, and so none should still be on grocery store shelves.  But Beth Daly, an epidemiologist with the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, said there was still some danger. “We’re more concerned that people have this product in their freezer and might still be eating it,” Ms. Daly said.  Infection with E. coli O157:H7 can have a wide range of effects, from mild intestinal discomfort to death. The New Hampshire resident who died of it contracted hemolytic uremic syndrome, a disease that attacks red blood cells and can cause kidney failure.  The New Yorker who died was an adult from Albany County who had several underlying health problems, The Associated Press reported.  While thorough cooking can kill E. coli O157:H7, it is dangerous even in microscopic doses and can be spread from utensils or cooking surfaces to other foods.  Donna Rosenbaum, executive director of Safe Tables Our Priority, a food safety organization, said the Fairbank Farms recall, and a smaller beef recall on Oct. 26 in Massachusetts by Crocetti’s Oakdale Packing Company, showed that the nation’s food inspection system needed reform.  “To this day,” she said, “contamination problems are not found by any checks on the products by companies. They’re found when people get sick, and that’s a failure in the system.”  At more than 270 tons of beef, Saturday’s recall was a large one. The Agriculture Department said the median beef recall last year was 7,733 pounds.  A version of this article appears in print on November 3, 2009, on Page A12 of the New York edition with the headline: E. Coli Kills 2 And Sickens Many Others; Focus on Beef. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
Two people, one from New Hampshire and another from upstate New York, have died after eating ground beef that may be responsible for an E. coli outbreak.