Cargill, a major United States meat processor, said Wednesday that it was recalling about 36 million pounds of ground turkey produced at an Arkansas plant after it was linked to a nationwide outbreak of salmonella sickness. It appeared to be one of the largest meat recalls ever.

One person in California has died in the outbreak and at least 76 have fallen ill.

The outbreak involved a strain of the bacteria known as Salmonella Heidelberg, which is resistant to many commonly prescribed antibiotics, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cargill said that it was suspending ground turkey production at the plant in Springdale, Ark., where the tainted meat originated, until it could identify the source of the contamination and fix it.

“It is regrettable that people may have become ill from eating one of our ground turkey products and, for anyone who did, we are truly sorry,” Steve Willardsen, president of Cargill’s turkey processing business, said in a written statement.