Safeway Stops Buying ConAgra Ground Beef

Safeway Inc. suspended ground beef purchases from ConAgra Foods Inc. unit ConAgra Beef until Colorado health officials and U.S. regulators determine the origin of an E. coli outbreak in that state.

Health officials have determined that 12 recent cases of E. coli poisoning in Colorado share a common source and are reviewing 13 others. They are still conducting tests to determine whether beef recalled June 30 from ConAgra’s slaughterhouse in Greeley, Colo., is to blame.

Eleven of the 12 people sickened by the bacteria said they bought meat from a Safeway store. After ConAgra announced its nationwide recall of 354,200 pounds of beef, the third-largest U.S. supermarket chain told customers it had sold some of the beef in several Western states.

Shares of Omaha-based ConAgra Foods fell 60 cents to $25.36 on the NYSE. Shares of Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway rose 73 cents to $30.49, also on the NYSE.