Canadian firm’s ground beef recall expands to U.S. after E. coli discovery

A recall of ground beef sold by Canadian processor XL Foods Inc. for suspected E. coli O157:H7 contamination has expanded into the United States after the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture found the bacteria in a test sample at the U.S.-Canadian border.


Edmonton, Alberta-based XL Foods voluntarily recalled ground beef sold under the Calahoo Meats, Kirkland Signature and Safeway brands across Canada and some U.S. processors also received beef from the affected lot. Kroger Co. this week announced a recall of its 73-percent-lean KRO Ground Beef that was sold in Kroger stores near Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, and parts of Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. The affected product was also sold at Food 4 Less, JayC Food Stores and Foods Co. stores, according to a Food Poisoning Bulletin Report.


The Canadian Food Safety and Inspection Agency announced the original recall on Monday for meat products packaged between Aug. 29 and Sept. 15. The XL Foods recall originally involved ground beef that was also sold at Walmart Stores Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The company did not disclose the amount of product involved in the recall, but no illnesses associated with consumption of the affected beef have been reported so far.


The USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) had not posted information on the agency’s findings or the U.S. recall by Meatingplace’s deadline. A spokesperson was unavailable for comment.

I like having my own beef and a good inspected local butcher. I know I get what I raise and it is processed properly. Don't most contamination like this come from poor cleaning of carcasses?

Doubt it is from poor cleaning of carcasses. Large processors use very sophisticated and thorough methods. And every step of the way are FSIS inspectors.

The problem is what happens between trim and grind. A pathogen has millions of ways to be introduced, even at your local butcher shop. In fact the butcher shop is very unsanitary compared to a modern grinding operation. Does your butcher shop have HEPA filtered air? Is your butcher shop's processing area at a higher air pressure than ambient? Are there quats applied at floor level? Are quats used on every tool every 15 minutes? And on and on. But you will never eliminate all pathogens, anywhere.

The deal is - cook hamburger until done on the inside. You'll never get sick if you do. Even if the burger is tested positive for E Coli, Staph, Lm, and salmonella, all at the same time, if it is cooked, the pathogens are dead and you can eat all you want, safely, with no fear of getting sick.

Why is hamburger such a problem compared to a nice rare New York Strip? The inside of a steak never gets exposed to anything; all you have to worry about in terms of pathogen lethality is the surface. Hamburger, gets all ground up and is highly exposed. That's why you can eat a rare steak and never get sick, but if you eat rare burgers, chances are, you'll eventually get a tummy ache or worse.

Rare meat is not an issue in my house. I will hold up the meal if it isn't done completely. Same when eating out. I order well done and tell them not to hold up other folks food waiting on mine. Just cook the dang thing. Burger gets the same treatment as does chicken or pork.