Customers' credit card information was accessed without authorization at eight Whole Foods stores in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, part of a security breach that affected 56 stores around the country, the grocery company said.

In a statement Tuesday, Whole Foods said it "received information regarding unauthorized access of payment card information" that was limited to "taprooms and full table-service restaurants" at some of its locations.

The stores' main checkout systems weren't affected by the breach, the company said, and those systems do not connect to Amazon.com. (Amazon bought Whole Foods in August; Amazon founder Jeffrey P. Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)

"These venues use a different point of sale system than the company's primary store checkout systems, and payment cards used at the primary store checkout systems were not affected," the company said in a statement. "When Whole Foods Market learned of this, the company launched an investigation, obtained the help of a leading cyber security forensics firm, contacted law enforcement, and is taking appropriate measures to address the issue."

Whole Foods posted a list of 56 locations affected by the breach. It includes the new H Street location in D.C. and the Silver Spring location, as well as six in Virginia: Arlington, Ashburn, Fairfax, Glen Allen, Newport News and Virginia Beach.

A Whole Foods spokeswoman did not return a request for comment.