Food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled, but eating it may cause serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses. (iStock)

Consumers should avoid eating certain President's Choice brand steaks, roasts and ground beef products that are being pulled from store shelves because of possible contamination with E. coli, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says.

The agency issued the health hazard alert Tuesday as an expansion of a recall of beef products processed in the U.S. in April by JBS Swift Beef Company in Greeley, Colo., after 18 people fell ill.

Those products have moved through the system and are no longer for sale, CFIA spokesman Garfield Balsom said Wednesday.

However, the agency wants people to make sure the affected products are not stored in their refrigerators or freezers. If they are, they should not be eaten, Balsom said.

The alert affects:

• Fresh beef steaks, roasts and ground beef bearing best-before dates between April 29 and June 16, inclusive, sold in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada.
• Fresh beef knuckle roasts, four to five pounds (about 1.8 to 2.27 kilograms), sold from April 30 to June 10 at Sue's Market at 205 Don Head Village Blvd. in Richmond Hill, Ont.

The agency advises consumers who have purchased the affected products to throw them out.

As of Wednesday, no illnesses in Canada associated with the contamination had been reported.

Food contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 may not look or smell spoiled, but eating it may cause serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses.