Food Basics steaks on recall

Steaks processed by Vantage Foods (ON) Inc. of Belleville and marketed by Food Basics supermarkets are on recall because they might be contaminated with E. coli 0157:H7.

That’s the same bacteria that polluted the drinking water at Walkerton and that prompted the largest beef recall in Canadian history by XL Foods of Alberta.

In this case, the steak was mechanically tenderized, meaning that the food-poisoning bacteria on the surface which would normally die when the meat is cooked has been driven into the interior where it might survive cooking.

The recall is for Food Basics mechanically tenderized hip steak with a best before date of Oct. 17 and Food Basics mechanically tenderized steak FP, also dated best before Oct. 17.

It’s the company that initiated the recall that has been posted on its website by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.