Health officials in the Pacific Northwest are concerned bad beef that has sickened at least eight people with e-coli might be in people’s freezers for grilling over the long Labor Day weekend.

The e-coli scare is prompting a recall of the brand of extra lean ground beef that has been linked to the infections. The products were sold in late July and early August in grocery stores across Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.

The meat was packaged in 16-ounce black trays and labeled:

“Northwest Finest” brand Natural Ground Beef, 7% fat. The red and black label bears a UPC code of “7 52907 60012 7.”

“Northwest Finest” brand Organic Ground Beef, 10% fat.” The green and black label has no UPC code.

Each package also bears the establishment number “Est. 965″ inside the USDA mark of inspection as well as a sell-by date between August 1 and August 11 2007. An alert was issued earlier today by the federal Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The organic product was sold at QFC, Fred Meyer, and Safeway stores in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. The natural product was sold at Safeway stores in Oregon, Washington and possible elsewhere. The meat was ground by Interstate Meat Dist., Inc. in Clackamas, Oregon.