Alberta plant recalls ground beef across Canada

[Bobino]

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has expanded its recall for various ground beef products with possible E. coli contamination.
The agency issued an initial public warning for various beef products distributed by XL Foods Inc. of Alberta under the brands Safeway, Calahoo meats and Kirkland Signature on Sept. 16. Products were distributed in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Ontario, B.C., and Alberta.
The report has been extended to include various ground beef products fromretailers including Sobeys, Foodland, Metro, No Frills and more. The distribution areas have also been extended to include New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, P.E.I., Newfoundland and Quebec.
The recall includes such products as ground beef, meatballs, patties, and meatloaf.
Dates for Sobeys products include best before or packaged on dates from Aug. 27 to Sept. 17. Foodland indicates Sept. 2 to Sept. 17. Metro lists dates as Sept. 17 to Sept. 20. Full dates for all stores and products were released by the agency on its website.
According to the Canadian Press, the agency said Monday that no reported illnesses have been linked to the product, which is being voluntarily recalled by XL Foods.
The agency will continue its investigation and work with recall firms and distributors to verify all affected products.
Consumers are being encouraged to contact the store where they purchased these products.
According to the agency, the products containing E.coli may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with E.coli bacteria can cause serious and even life-threatening illnesses.
Symptoms typically include severe abdominal pain and diarrhea.


Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/ground-...#ixzz26r6FGBKO

Good reminder to always cook grind to 71 C / 160 F.
Hope nobody here affected by this.

[dj_patm]

[codetrap]

I got a call from Costco about it. Apparently we had some of that batch. Cooked it well done and it was just fine.

[JRSC00LUDE]

I put on fbook that people are free to dispose of their meat fears in my deep freeze.

[desi112]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE
I put on fbook that people are free to dispose of their meat fears in my deep freeze.

Or they could do the logical thing: Take it back to the store for a full refund.

[eblend]

Originally posted by codetrap
I got a call from Costco about it. Apparently we had some of that batch. Cooked it well done and it was just fine.

When did you buy yours? We went there September 9th and bought some, we package it separately and shove it into the freezer, so wouldn't know any of the dates on the original packagin

[elite]

Originally posted by desi112


Or they could do the logical thing: Take it back to the store for a full refund.

Or you can just cook it properly and eat it. Why would you take it back to the store?

[JRSC00LUDE]

Originally posted by desi112
Or they could do the logical thing: Take it back to the store for a full refund.

Are we going to start this again, Mister?

Originally posted by elite
Or you can just cook it properly and eat it. Why would you take it back to the store?

THAT'S the logical thing, people are stupid and scared of everything.

[btimbit]

Originally posted by JRSC00LUDE
THAT'S the logical thing, people are stupid and scared of everything.

Whenever there's a story like this there's always a noticeable drop in the amount of people that order beef in restaurants as well. Even if it's from completely different farm, facility, part of the country, etc.
I find food fear hilarious.

I'm with you, if anyone doesn't want their meat, I'll take it.

[Hakkola]

Originally posted by eblend


When did you buy yours? We went there September 9th and bought some, we package it separately and shove it into the freezer, so wouldn't know any of the dates on the original packagin

My mom bought some on Saturday and got a call about it.

[Bobino]

Originally posted by elite


Or you can just cook it properly and eat it. Why would you take it back to the store?

Agreed. Honestly, all ground beef "should" be treated as if it was ecoli positive which is why it must be fully cooked.
There is probably more chance of their being ecoli on your cell phone than getting a package of that contaminated product that actually does have ecoli.
Having said that, I don't blame people for wanting to return the product in exchange for the uncontaminated product they paid for.

[CapnCrunch]

I can't believe people still buy that crap. Grinding your own meat FTW.

[codetrap]

Originally posted by CapnCrunch
I can't believe people still buy that crap. Grinding your own meat FTW.

Normally I'd agree with DIY, but in this case I don't. Beside the capital expense of buying a meat grinder, the setup/takedown/cleanup to make the beef isn't worth it on the household level. Plus the risk of contamination probably exponentially higher in a residential setting vs a reputable butcher.

[Bobino]

Originally posted by codetrap
Normally I'd agree with DIY, but in this case I don't. Beside the capital expense of buying a meat grinder, the setup/takedown/cleanup to make the beef isn't worth it on the household level. Plus the risk of contamination probably exponentially higher in a residential setting vs a reputable butcher.

^This. I've read that 97% of food borne illness comes from improper food handling (had to look up the stat, but knew it was high - see link). Additionally, you have no way to determine if there is ecoli in the product you are grinding/in the blades of your grinder, ect. For everyday use I don't feel the effort to grind my own beef is worth it, especially since it's like a dollar a pound to buy in larger quantities. From a food safety standpoint, IMO, you'd be best to buy ground beef from a larger producer with stringent testing, rather than grind it yourself or have Joe Blow Butcher sell you his ground up trimmings.

If you're grinding up sirloin/chuck or the like for something special, that's a totally different story

Link

[CapnCrunch]

Originally posted by codetrap
Normally I'd agree with DIY, but in this case I don't. Beside the capital expense of buying a meat grinder, the setup/takedown/cleanup to make the beef isn't worth it on the household level. Plus the risk of contamination probably exponentially higher in a residential setting vs a reputable butcher.

Maybe I didn't make myself clear. I'm not growing my own cows and butchering them in my garage. I buy good cuts of meat from a quality merchandiser and grind said meat up in an attachment on my kitchenaid mixer. Set up and tear down including washing said grinder is around 5 minutes.

But if you like bleeding from your anus, by all means, carry on buying that crap.

[sillysod]

If you saw how ground beef was made at these plants you would NEVER buy it.

You can buy ground sirloin at 90% of the grocery stores. That is actually ground steak cuts (not the steak, but generally tips and trimmings).

Ground beef is yellow fat left over from the cutting tables and other tissue that includes things like circulatory system parts, tendons and other non-appealing parts.

It IS completely edible, but when you see the production of it you will quickly realise how important it is to cook it thoroughly throughout.

Although XL had the problem this time every superplant has or will go through a contamination problem sooner or later. There is so much equipment that gets washed down nightly between shifts that there is no way the cleaning crew can catch everything. Honestly I'm surprised that the e coli contamination is so low considering the size of these superprocessers.

[Bobino]

Originally posted by sillysod


Ground beef is yellow fat left over from the cutting tables and other tissue that includes things like circulatory system parts, tendons and other non-appealing parts.

^Mostly correct...Ground beef is trimmings that contain lean meat left over from the cutting tables. There are different belts for different lean points of trimmings. Items such as circulatory system parts, bones, membranes, tendons, ect go into a separate belt and are used in another process and end up being turned into tallow, bonemeal, ect.


On a side note, according to CTV there's a 4 year old girl in the hospital suffering a kidney failure that's potentially related to this

Link

[BigShow]

Cooked for 50 people at Ronald McDonald House using ground beef from Costco last night, not overly worried.

[sillysod]

Originally posted by Bobino


Items such as circulatory system parts, bones, membranes, tendons, ect go into a separate belt and are used in another process and end up being turned into tallow, bonemeal, ect.

Bones and membranes etc do not go into ground beef, they go to AB processors or other rendering plants, however there is definitely circulatory parts that end up in ground beef. Not "selected" but more like end up in it.

Ground beef is waste meat. Most ground beef is actually grey in color after processing. Through different processing tricks (including BPI that uses ammonia) they are able to make it a tasty pinkish red color. The truth is it is actually meat so 100% ground beef labels are totally legal.

At the end of the day what you don't know won't kill you (unless you don't cook it properly). I wish I never knew most of what I know about how our food is prepared.