Safeway Stores in Hawai'i are participating in a national recall issued yesterday of 825,769 pounds of ground beef. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the recalled meat may be linked to an outbreak of salmonella in Colorado.

Consumers who have unopened packages of Safeway beef products can return them to a Safeway store and get a refund for the product as long as the store label is intact, a Hawai'i Safeway store manager said.

The recall affects ground beef products sold between June 6 and July 14 and has "EST.31913" printed on the case code labels.

Along with Hawai'i, the recall affects Safeway stores in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming that carry meat processed by Beef Packers Inc. of Fresno, Calif. The recall was issued yesterday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

Eating food contaminated with salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial food-borne illnesses. Salmonella infections can be life-threatening, especially to those with weak immune systems, such as infants, the elderly and people with HIV infections or undergoing chemotherapy.

Symptoms — diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever — can start within eight to 72 hours after eating salmonella-tainted food, experts say. Additional symptoms may include chills, headache, nausea and vomiting that can last up to seven days.