Over 4,000 pounds of beef was recalled last week due to concerns of a mad cow disease contamination that put popular organic health food chain Whole Foods in a bad light.

The questionable and tainted meat was traced back to Fruitland American Meat in Jackson, Missouri, reported the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Wednesday's press release.

The meat was shipped to a Whole Foods distribution center in Connecticut that distributes to various Whole Foods stores in New England as well as a restaurant in New York City and Kansas, Missouri. The beef was produced and packaged sometime between September 2013 and April 2014, notes CNN. 

The tainted meat was said to contain parts of a cow's nervous system that is associated to bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease, which is fatal to cows and if consumed by people can cause a deadly human brain disease.

According to Heather McCready, spokesperson for the North Atlantic Whole Foods on Thursday, "We are closely monitoring this issue with one of our suppliers, to ensure full compliance with the USDA's regulations and our own high quality standards for beef," said McCready.

"There have been no cases of reported BSE or any other illnesses associated with this product, and no products currently in our stores are affected."

Another release from the popular healthy grocery chain was issued saying, "the affected cattle associated with the recall are all too young to coincide with the beef purchased by the Whole Foods chain. Reportedly, each of the 39 cows affected were all under 30 months old," Whole Foods said, in a report by Liberty Voice.

To know if your beef is part of the recall, examine the USDA mark of inspection sticker. USDA instructs affected consumers to watch out for the following production dates, which will be printed on the box: 9/5/13, 9/10/13, 9/11/13, 9/26/13, 10/2/13, 10/3/2013, 11/8/13, 11/22/13, 12/17/13, 12/26/13, 12/27/13,1/16/14, 1/17/14, 1/23/14, 1/31/14, 2/13/14, 2/14/14, 2/21/14, 2/28/14, 3/8/14, 3/20/14, 4/4/14 or 4/25/14.

Whole Foods is a popular specialty and organic food product store that began in 1978 in Texas. The chain has over 340 branches and a widely recognized source of organic meats and food products. The store maintains its assurance that their 34 stores remain unaffected by the beef recall of last week, notes Liberty Voice.

For more information on BSE and the food recall, see the Center for Disease Control and Prevention website. as well as USDA Food Safety Inspection Service page. 

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