The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is advising people not to eat certain ground beef products because they may be contaminated with a potentially harmful strain of E. coli bacteria.
The agency has issued a warning about frozen Steakhouse Beef Burgers, sold at M&M Meat Shops across Canada, and frozen Pure Ground Beef Patties, made by Belmont Meat Products and sold at Costco stores in Ontario.
The recalled Steakhouse Beef Burgers are sold in a 1.02-kilogram package, code date 0858. The affected Belmont Meat Products items are sold in 4.54-kilogram "restaurant packs" bearing the UPC code 0 60597 35020 9.
Also affected by the alert are fresh (not frozen) regular ground beef packages of variable weights sold from the following Toronto stores between March 13 and March 21, 2008: Lone Tai Supermarket, 2300 Lawrence Ave. E.; Hong Tai, 2555 Victoria Park Ave.; and Ton Tai, 3030 Don Mills Rd.
People who might have purchased these products and still have them in their freezers are advised not to consume them.
There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of the ground beef named in the alert.
Food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled, but eating it may cause serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses.
The food inspection agency said retailers are voluntarily recalling the identified products from the marketplace.
