Costco Strip Loin Steaks From XL Foods Added To Recall

Kirkland brand Strip Loin Grilling Steaks sold at Costco in Edmonton, Alberta -- which apparently originated at the city's XL Foods Inc. -- were recalled Wednesday after the beef products were specifically linked to four E. coli cases.    The beef steak recall was limited to the Costco located at 13650 50 Street in Edmonton.  The steaks were sold between Sept 4 and Sept. 7, 2012. The four E. coli illnesses traced back to the Strip Loins sold at that location were by the Alberta Health Services. For the past ten days, ground beef from Edmonton's XL Foods has been recalled in ever larger amounts in both the U.S. and Canada. These events are now followed by the highly unusual report of steaks contaminated with E. coli. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has been struggling to grasp what is going on at XL Foods since Sept. 3, when an E. coli test conducted by the U.S. came back positive. One focus of the Costco investigation is the meat tenderizing process, which might have driven the pathogen further into the meat. "It turns out some time late in August, there was an unusually high number of animals or an unusually high number of E. coli in animals, that went into the plant that were decontaminated in usual process, but it didn't knock it down enough," said Dr. Richard Arsenault, director of meat programs for CFIA. "It's not about more products coming out of the facility after the initial recall, it's about discovering more product in the distribution chain that's already been sent to retail that was made on original day we were looking at." XL Foods Inc, the largest Canadian owned and operated beef processor, issued its own statement after the Costco recall outlining some of the ways it is addressing CFIA inspection findings and promising to cooperate with all the investigating agencies.   XL did say there is yet no definitive link between its products and the ill Canadians. All beef steaks including the Strip Loin Grilling Steak prepared and sold in variable weight packages from Costco Wholesale store #156, located at 13650, 50th street, Edmonton, Alberta are affected by the CFIA alert.  These steaks were sold during the period September 4 through 7, 2012 and bear one of the following Packed On dates: 12 / SE / 04 12 / SE / 05 12 / SE / 06 12 / SE / 07 Food contaminated with the dangerous and often deadly E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled, according to CFIA.  © Food Safety News More Headlines from Food Recalls »