The Sam's Club warehouse chain has pulled a brand of ground beef patties from its shelves nationwide after four children who ate the food, produced by Cargill Inc., developed E. coli illness.

Cargill on Friday asked customers to return any remaining patties purchased after August 26 to the store or destroy them.

The children became ill between September 10 and September 20 after eating ground beef patties that were bought frozen under the name American Chef's Selection Angus Beef Patties from three Sam's Club stores in the Twin Cities area.

Sam's Club voluntarily removed the product from its stores nationwide after the illnesses were reported, the company said.

"We can't be certain that meat from other stores is not involved, since the brand ... was likely sold at other Sam's Club locations," said Heidi Kassenborg, acting director of the dairy and food inspection division of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture.