Tyson Fresh Meats in Nebraska has recalled about 41,000 pounds of ground beef products that may be contaminated with E. coli bacteria, and some of the beef may have been sold at southwest Ohio grocery stores more than five weeks ago.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) made that announcement Tuesday.

No reports of illnesses have been reported from eating the ground beef. The recall was prompted by agriculture department monitoring and a confirmed lab test result, and not by reports of people eating the beef and getting sick. The products subject to recall have a “BEST BEFORE OR FREEZE BY” date of “11/13/11” and “EST. 245C” on the box label.

The products — 10-pound “chubs” of beef labeled “CHUCK FINE GROUND BEEF 80/20,” packed in cases containing eight chubs — were shipped to distributors in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

A list of grocers and other retail outlets that may have had access to or sold the recalled beef was released Tuesday included several southwest Ohio grocers - Dillman’s Foods in Middletown, Jungle Jim’s Market in Fairfield, Remke Market in Mason and Dorothy Lane Market in Springboro among them.

But the agriculture department said a grocery store’s inclusion in its retailers’ list does not mean it sold any of the recalled beef.

Steve Dillman, owner of Dillman’s Foods on Central Avenue, said he doesn’t sell 10-pound chubs of pre-packaged ground beef.

“I don’t like the look and quality of chubs; we grind our meat fresh daily,” Dillman said. “I’ve been in this business my whole life and there used to be very few recalls and now it’s really increased in frequency.”

Dillman said typically if a product is recalled he will receive a notice with product codes from the supplier, such as SuperValu. Dillman then would check to see if he had the product and pull it from the shelves.

“We’d put up a sign with the code number and dates it could have been purchased,” Dillman said. “If anyone had, they can bring it back but in a situation like this you want a receipt from the customer to prove they got in from me and you can’t expect a receipt from a month ago.”

A worker in the meat department at Jungle Jim’s said Tuesday the grocery is aware of the meat recall, but Jungle Jim’s isn’t impacted by it because it does not sell the product. No further information was immediately available from Jungle Jim’s.

Jack Gridley, who oversees meat and seafood for all three Dorothy Lane Market stores, said DLM does not purchase any meat products from Tyson Fresh Meats in Nebraska through any of its suppliers or wholesalers. Gridley said he believes the agriculture department listed all grocers who buy products of any kind from a SuperValu grocery wholesale operation in Xenia.

E. coli bacteria can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure, agriculture department officials said. Federal officials recommend that consumers should eat ground beef or ground beef patties only if the beef has been cooked to a safe internal temperature of at least 160 degrees.

Staff Writer Hannah Poturalski contributed to this report.