XL Foods Recall (E-coli Contamination)

There is a massive beef recall that everyone should be aware about. It originates from XL foods in Brooks, Alberta. They are one of the largest beef processing plants in Canada and ship North America wide.

They discovered this about a week & a half ago, and every day the recall has been expanded again and again. It is also causing some political fallout as cutbacks in inspections & enforcement are cited by some of the causes of this here in Canada.

The recall of potentially E. coli-tainted beef products from XL Foods Inc. was expanded Saturday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has now added beef products carried by some Co-op stores to the growing list. Many of these stores have already removed the products from their shelves, and have disinfected their meat freezers. CTV

Information for the Canadian recall can be found in the news story above.

Information for the USA recall, covering ~30 states.

There are already some reports of illness for the tainted meat, lets hope nothing more serious develops.

Here the Canadian list

www.inspection.gc.ca...

Eat more chicken!

What the heck!!!!

This is really big news... something is going on for sure!
I would never say something like this, but we have a huge problem since a few days in Germany.

by now over 8000!!!! schoolchildren are infected by contaminated food which was delivered to their schools.

Could there be a connection?

www.thelocal.de...

Good ol' peanut butter and jelly! ...time for parents to start packing lunch again! ....sounds like some seriously tainted food. I feel badly for the innocent kids. What's next, the water?

Originally posted by Meldionne1
Good ol' peanut butter and jelly! ...time for parents to start packing lunch again! ....sounds like some seriously tainted food. I feel badly for the innocent kids. What's next, the water?

Peanut butter recalls are always happening safe thing to do cook your meat well done no worries. i know it looses some taste but you never know what is in it. hope no one dies over this.

Update: the list has been expanded again (30.09.2012):

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has expanded the list of recalled products from the Alberta-based XL Foods meat packing plant and is now advising Canadians unsure of whether the meat they’re buying may be tainted with E. coli to ask the retailer before purchasing the product. Dozens of new cuts of beef have been added to the growing recall list, including raw meat products from Costco Wholesale Canada, Walmart, Prairie Meats and Delectable Read more: www.ctvnews.ca...

This is really starting to make me wonder about our food safety system here.Its a daily occurrence for this recall to be expanded, they should have caught all of this in the first day or two. Almost two weeks into this and they are still scrambling to figure out where this all went. This does not inspire confidence in the meat inspection system...

Re call was expanded again late last night:

OTTAWA, October 1, 2012 - The public warning issued on September 30, 2012 has been updated to include additional products. Link

And it looks like there could be more cases of food poisoning developing:

Public health officials in Alberta said Tuesday they are investigating two new food poisoning cases, including one that has been linked to tainted meat from a Brooks plant. And in neighbouring Saskatchewan, authorities are conducting tests after a recent spike in the number of patients infected by the potentially fatal bacteria. Read more: www.calgaryherald.com...

Looks like it might get worse before it gets better...

200 more products added today

Last Updated Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012 12:07PM MDT Agricultural Minister Gerry Ritz addressed the media again on Thursday to update the situation on the massive nation wide beef recall. The recall of products continues to grow and now includes hundreds of items sold all over the country and in many different stores. Read more: calgary.ctvnews.ca...

The company has not said a word about the recall, Meanwhile the list grows almost daily. Sounds to me like they are not exactly co-operating or are that concerned about the people who consume their products. I just hope this brings some serious reform to our food system to boost quality which has been slipping alarmingly over the past while. I doubt it will though.