New Seasons stores in Portland today recalled fresh ground beef sold at meat counters due to a possible E. coli infection.

According to a release from the Oregon Health Authority, three people have in the Portland metro area have become ill with E. coli infections after eating New Seasons' ground beef. The recalled beef was sold at the market's North Lombard, North Interstate and Cedar Hills locations.

On its website, New Seasons urges customers to toss out any ground beef products with "packed on" dates between Oct 19 and Oct 23 and "sell by" dates starting Oct 23 to Oct 26.

In tests conducted by the Oregon State Public Health Laboratory after the outbreak, OHA found an identical strand of E. coli present in all three infected patients.

Anyone who developed diarrhea after eating potentially infected beef should contact their health care provider. Children and elderly people are at increased risk of kidney damage and even death after contracting E. coli.