With six people in Washington sickened from E. coli bacteria, including one from Island County, health officials are advising consumers to check any packages of ground beef they have with the Northwest Finest brand name.

A consumer alert was issued on Thursday for products with “sell by” dates between Aug. 1 and Aug. 11.

Even though the products are thought to have been removed from store shelves, food safety inspectors “are concerned that people may have purchased the product, and it may still be in the freezer,” said Donn Moyer, a state Department of Health spokesman.

“We’re asking that they check the label,” he said. If they’ve bought beef products involved in the alert “discard it; don’t eat it,” Moyer said.

The action was taken after a possible link was found between the ground-beef products and eight confirmed cases in Oregon and Washington of people sickened with E.coli O157:H7 illnesses.

The bacteria can cause bloody diarrhea and dehydration, and in some cases, is deadly. Children, seniors and those with weakened immune systems are most at risk for the disease.

The products involved in the alert were made by Interstate Meat Distributors of Clackamas, Ore. Health officials are not sure how the beef became contaminated by the bacteria.

They have confirmed that in Washington the affected ground-beef products were sold at Safeway, QFC and Fred Meyer stores. However, it may have been available at other stores, too. It was also distributed in stores in Alaska, Idaho and Oregon. Consumers are being advised to check their freezers for these products.

Health officials first began seeing cases of people becoming sick from a suspected E. coli illnesses in late July and early August, Moyer said.

The man from Island County, who is in his 20s, became sick but was not hospitalized.

A total of four people from King County were sickened after eating the beef. Of this group, two were hospitalized and have been discharged, Moyer said. One was a child under the age of 12 and the other was a man in his 20s. A man in his 40s and a woman in her 20s also became ill.

The final Washington case is an adult woman from Clallam County. Moyer said no information would be provided on her age to maintain her privacy.

The cases serve as a reminder to consumers to take caution in preparing and cooking meat, Moyer said.

Juices from raw meat, if they come in contact with other food, can contaminate it, he said. And knives used to cut raw meat must be thoroughly cleaned before they are used on other food.

Thoroughly cooking meat until it has a temperature of 160 degrees kills the E. coli bacteria, he said.

Loran Hickton, a spokesman for Interstate Meat Distributors, said the organization has worked closely with state health officials in Oregon and Washington as well as representatives of federal Department of Agriculture.

“We’ve been in the Northwest since 1957,” he said. “As much as the health authorities, we wanted to get an alert out right away.

“Safety is the first and most important thing we do at work every day.”

Reporter Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 of salyer@heraldnet.com.