TORONTO - Alberta's XL Foods says it thought it had top notch safety procedures, but they were not enough.
XL, which is ground zero of the massive tainted beef recall, says it takes full responsibility for its operations and its products.
The company says when it can open the plant in Brooks again, it will work closely with federal inspectors to ensure the problems never happen again.
More than 15-hundred E-coli-contaminated products are on the recall list, which stretches across Canada.
Public health officials confirm that four E-coli cases have been traced back to XL products.
Global News takes a look at key events in Alberta’s XL Foods beef recall:
August 23, 2012: Cattle are slaughtered at a plant in Brooks run by Edmonton-based XL Foods Inc. Beef slaughtered that day is later recalled.
August 24, 27, 28, 29, 2012: Beef is produced at the Brooks plant that is later recalled.
September 3, 2012: U.S. officials alert the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) that beef from the Brooks plant has tested positive for E. coli 0157: H7 bacteria. Both agencies begin investigations.
September 4, 2012: E coli is detected by CFIA and by U.S. border officials. No action is taken.
September 11 and 12, 2012: The CFIA is alerted of two more cases of E.coli that have been confirmed in meat crossing the U.S. border.
September 13, 2012: At the request of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Canada revokes the plant's permit to export beef to the U.S.
September 16, 2012: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency sends out the first alert warning people not to eat, sell or serve 26 ground beef and ground-beef products sold at several major stores because they “may be contaminated with E. coli.” The alert says XL Foods Inc. voluntarily issued the recall although no reported illnesses have been linked to the recalled products.
READ MORE: See the CFIA's full list of XL Foods recalled products here
September 17, 2012: The CFIA expands the voluntary recall to add 55 more ground beef and ground-beef products to the list of products recalled across Canada. All the products were manufactured at the Brooks plant.
September 18, 2012: The CFIA expands the recall to add 14 more products.
September 19, 2012: The CFIA adds 75 more products to the recalled list. XL Foods and its parent company, Edmonton-based Nilsson Bros., release a recorded statement saying XL Foods prides itself on providing safe and high quality beef products.
September 20, 2012: The CFIA adds 37 products to the recall. The United States Food Safety and Inspection Service issues a public-health alert.
September 21, 2012: The CFIA adds 47 products to the recall. The United States Food Safety and Inspection Service updates its public-health alert.
September 22, 2012: The CFIA adds 10 products to the recall.
September 24, 2012: The CFIA issues a summary that says an in-depth review uncovered “several deficiencies” during an investigation into the slaughterhouse.
September 25, 2012: The CFIA adds 60 products to the recall. The U.S. recalls products distributed to California, Texas, Washington, Oregon, Michigan, Nebraska, Utah and Wisconsin. Alberta Health Services officials say they are investigating a total of eight E. coli cases, four in Edmonton, three in Calgary and one in central Alberta. Lab test results come in to Alberta Health Services at night that confirm the four Edmonton patients were infected by E. coli-tainted strip loin grilling steaks they bought at a northeast Edmonton Costco. Alberta Health Services notifies the CFIA about the test results.
September 26, 2012: Alberta Health Service officials announce that four people in Edmonton got sick from E. coli after eating Kirkland brand strip loin steaks purchased at a Costco outlet in Edmonton.
The CFIA recalls Kirkland brand beef steaks packaged and sold Sept. 4 to Sept. 7 from the Costco at 13650, 50th St. and a CFIA spokesman confirms the steaks were processed at the plant in Brooks. Top public health doctors in Alberta say they have asked Costco stores to stop using a meat-tenderizing machine that could push E. coli bacteria from the surface of meat inside, where it is protected from high cooking temperatures that kill the bacteria.
Also on this day, the United States Food Safety and Inspection Service expands its recall to cover 10 states.
September 27, 2012: Alberta Health Services confirms it is investigating a fourth case in Calgary of E. coli poisoning, bringing the total number of recent cases in Alberta to nine. The health authority is still investigating what caused E. coli poisoning in four Calgary patients and one central Alberta patient.
September 28, 2012: The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announces that XL Foods Inc. in Brooks, Alta., suspends the packing facility’s operating license and says it won't be able to resume operations until it implements corrective actions required by the agency.
September 30, 2012: The CFIA adds dozens more products to its list of possibly contaminated beef products and warns consumers to inquire at the point of purchase whether the beef they're buying came from XL Foods. Meanwhile, Alberta's Premier Alison Redford and the province's agricultural minister met with local producers to discuss the impact of the plant's closure on the farming community. Redford stood behind the safety of Alberta meat.
October 2, 2012:Another E. coli case in northern Alberta has been linked with the consumption of a beef from XL Foods.
Shannon
Evans, spokeswoman for Alberta Health Services, confirms someone in
northern Alberta became sick Sept. 9 after eating a steak purchased at
the northeast Edmonton Costco store on 50th Street.
The person is the fifth to become sick with E. coli after eating beef from the same Costco store.
Also on this day, XL Food recall expanded to include even more products. The newly recalled products are associated with the same X-L Foods
manufacturing dates of August 27th, August 27th to 29th and September
4th - the same dates as the previous recall.
October 3, 2012: Agency president George Da Pont says Canadian inspectors asked
for information from XL Foods Inc. on Sept. 6 about “critical points” where E.
coli might become a problem, but didn’t get it right away.
House of Commons
holds an emergency debate on the beef crisis.
October 4, 2012: Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says that, despite several media reports, the
XL Foods plant is not reopening. Ritz says he’ll require written notice from the Canadian Food Inspection
Agency that confirms the plant is safe before it can resume operations.
XL Foods also makes its first public comment since the massive beef recall began last month.
The company says it takes full responsibility for its products and its operations.
- With files from The Canadian Press
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.