The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is adding whole muscle cuts of beef, such as steaks, ribs, and roasts, to the list of previously recalled ground beef products. The public, food service establishments, retailers, distributors, and manufactures are being warned not to consume, serve, use, or cell certain beef products manufactured and sold by XL Foods (Est. 38) because they may be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. This is the ninth expansion of the original recall. There is no word on whether or not this recall will expand to the United States. The Canadian government is investigating several illnesses in Alberta linked to mechanically tenderized beef produced at the XL plant. The government also temporarily closed the XL Foods facility and seized its contents. No products … [Read more...]
Canada Expands XL Foods E. coli 0157:H7 Beef Recall for Eighth Time
The recall for labeled and unlabeled ground beef products produced by XL foods has expanded in Canada for an eighth time for possible E. coli 0157:H7 contamination. It includes labeled, unlabeled, branded, and unbranded ground beef products available for sale from August 24 to September 25, 2012 and is sold at stores that may not be identified. If you are not sure if you have the affected products, check with the store or throw it out. More brands included in the recall are Reddi Food Solutions Inc. and Freson Brothers. Ground sirloin and Extra Lean Ground Beef are the recalled products. The CFIA is continuing to insist that there are no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of these products, but four people have been sickened with E. coli 0157:H7 linked to mechanically … [Read more...]
USDA Extends Beef Products Warning to Kroger, Fred Meyer, Safeway, Walmart
The USDA has extended its warning about beef imported from XL Foods for E. coli 0157:H7 to include 30 states and several major grocery store chains. Now Kroger, Safeway, and WalMart, among others, are listed as facilities that carried the products. The USDA's FSIS has released another list of retail consignees that received the products. All beef and beef products produced on August 24, 27, 28, 29, and September 5, 2012 have been recalled by XL Foods. The beef was sold in these stores in the United States: Albertson's, Baker's, City Market, Dillon's, Food4Less, Foods Co., Fred Meyer, Fry's, Gerbes, Haggan Northwest Fresh, Hilander, Jay C, King Soopers, Kroger, Owen's Pay Less, QFC, Ralph's, Safeway, Sam's Club, Scott's Smith's Stores, TOP Food and Drug, and Walmart. The states where the … [Read more...]
FSIS Expands Public Health Alert for E. coli in XL Foods Canadian Beef
The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is expanding the Public Health Alert for XL Foods to include all beef and beef products produced on August 24, 27, 28, 29, and September 5, 2012. The products are considered adulterated with E. coli 0157:H7 and should be returned to the place of purchase or destroyed. The foods subject to recall include, but are not limited to, steaks, roasts, mechanically tenderized steaks and roasts, and ground beef. You can find the retail distribution list at the FSIS site. According to the statement, FSIS "has reason to believe that beef from cattle slaughtered during the period associated with the recall was produced under insanitary conditions that resulted in a high event period (a period when the trim from carcasses exhibited an unusually … [Read more...]
Canada Suspends XL Foods License to Operate After E. coli Beef Recalls
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has suspended XL Foods Inc. license to operate after the company did not adequately implement corrective actions after inspection. The facility's ground beef and beef trim was recalled after it was found to be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7. The recall has been expanded seven times and spread into the United States. The recall began September 17, 2012. On September 4, 2012, the USDA notified the CFIA of a positive E. coli 0157:H7 sample in beef trimmings from XL Foods. The CFIA found the deadly bacteria in products made in XL Foods Alberta facility that same day. So the Canadian government conducted enhanced inspections at that plant. On September 26, 2012, the CFIA determined that the deficiencies found in the inspection had not bee … [Read more...]
FSIS Posts Retail List of Stores That Received XL Foods Beef Recalled for E. coli 0157:H7
The United States Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has posted a list of retail facilities that received boneless beef trim products imported from Canada that were recalled for possible E. coli 0157:H7 contamination. Beef trim is used to make ground beef and ground beef products. The stores that received this product used it to make their own brands of ground beef and products using ground beef. Nationwide, the chains that received the recalled product are Albertson's, Food4Less, FoodsCo., Jay C, Kroger, Safeway, Sam's Club, and Walmart. The states that received the recalled product include Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, … [Read more...]
USDA Updates E. coli 0157:H7 Public Health Alert for Canadian XL Foods Beef
The USDA has updated its public health alert about E. coli 0157:H7 in imported XL Foods beef. Standard recall effectiveness checks have found that whole muscle beef cuts produced on the same dates as the recalled ground beef. Sub-prime materials, such as short ribs, were "produced on the same production dates as beef subject to recall in Canada were being used by a U.S. facility to manufacture other products and that the beef short ribs were being trimmed in order for the trim to be used to make ground beef." In other words, beef from cattle slaughtered at Establishment 38 (XL Foods) was produced under unsanitary conditions that contaminated many products. All products that are non-intact, like ground beef and trim, along with all cuts of beef that will be processed into non-intact … [Read more...]
CFIA’s Investigation into XL Foods Facility for E. coli 0157:H7
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has updated its investigation into the XL Foods facility where positive E. coli 0157:H7 tests led to a huge recall of beef trim, ground beef, and products made with ground beef. The government has reviewed food safety controls at the facility. The review focused on "the plant's preventative control measures, food-safety policies and procedures, laboratory methodology, and equipment and quality systems." The review did not find one single factor that led to the contamination, but found several deficiencies that, when combined, could have played a role. The report states that, "the detection of E. coli in slaughter facilities is not uncommon, and plants are expected to have adequate measures in place to monitor higher than normal detection rates and … [Read more...]
