The E. coli scare involving meat products from Alberta-based XL Foods has caused many consumers to lose confidence in the safety of Alberta beef.
The recall by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency involves more than 500 products.
Some shoppers are boycotting Alberta beef altogether, even though producers say all the beef currently on supermarket shelves is safe to eat.
Well-known food critic John Gilchrist says part of the problem is that people don’t know enough about where their beef comes from.
“It's a result of the beef industry and a lot of other ag industries being dense in their communications. It's a thick process to understand - producers don't know what processors are doing and the butchers don't know what people in the other arms of the industry are doing. It's confusing and people are going to over-react because they don't know enough about what's going on.”
Alberta Health Services has now confirmed four E. coli cases have now been directly linked to contaminated steaks sold at Costco in Edmonton. The beef came from the XL plant in Brooks.
If you have beef in the freezer that was bought on specific dates last week or earlier this month , experts say it's best to return it to the store where you bought it, or throw it out.
For the complete list of recalled products click here.
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