Davidson beef is safe to eat.

The Davidson Co-op Food Store has pulled all its beef products that were processed at the XL Foods Inc. plant in Brooks, Alta. that is at the centre of the new E. coli infection scare, but want to assure all customers the meat that is on the counter today is safe.

Dale Firby, general manager of Riverbend Co-op, said the plant in Brooks is their “preferred supplier,” but once the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) issued the recall; the grocery store “immediately” pulled all the products that were specified from the counter.

CFIA first issued the recall in September and further expanded it to dozens of additional products including roasts and sausages last Monday.

“When we were informed of the recall, we addressed it,” said Firby. “Anyone that was asking about the product, we had encouraged them to bring the product back for a full refund and all product was isolated and returned back to the supplier.”

There were 13 E. coli infection cases being investigated in September, which differs sharply from the usual zero to four during that month, by the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health to see if they are linked to beef processed at the XL Foods Inc. plant. There have been five confirmed cases in Alberta linked to the processing plant.

The Heath Ministry is reminding consumers to use safe beef handling and cooking procedures such as thorough hand washing when handling or preparing food and making sure that all meat is cooked thoroughly.

People with an E. coli infection will experience symptoms such as severe abdominal pain, watery or bloody diarrhoea, vomiting, nausea and headaches with little or no fever. These symptoms usually appear within three to four days, but can occur up to 10 days later and last about five to 10 days. People most at risk of developing serious complications from E. coli are pregnant women, people with compromised immune systems, young children and the elderly.

To read more please see the Oct. 8 print edition of The Davidson Leader.