The list of beef products potentially contaminated with E-coli bacteria was expanded again overnight.

The Super A and Bigway grocery chains in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake were also added overnight to the list of retailers which may have distributed products at risk.

As of Wednesday morning, Extra Foods and the Real Canadian Superstore were not on the list of retailers who might have sold at-risk ground beef before the recall of ground beef went out Sunday, Sept. 16.

This morning, they are.

Yesterday, Super A and Bigway stores in Whitehorse, Dawson City and Watson Lake were not on the list of retailers who might have sold ground beef or various cuts of steak and roast added to recall list on Sept. 21.

Today, all beef products sold by Super A and Bigway with packed-on dates from Sept. 3 to Sept. 28 are been categorized as at risk.

Judy Jackiw, the director of retail marketing for The Grocery People, said today the Riverdale Super A, the Porter Creek Super A and the Bigway store in Copper Ridge did not receive any of the listed products.

Staff of those stores will assure customers with any questions that they did not sell beef on the recall list.

If customers are still uneasy, however, they can return the meat for a full refund and the retailers will be reimbursed, she said.

Jackiw said the Bigway in Dawson City may have received some of the product, but was unable to say off the bat without going back through the paper whether the Super A in Watson Lake would have.

Regardless, she said, the chains owned by the Grocery People are in full compliance or have gone beyond the direction provided by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

Food safety, she said, is the highest priority for her company.

The food inspection agency on Sept. 16 issued the first recall of ground beef produced at the XL Foods facility in Brooks, Alta. on the dates of Aug. 24, 27, 28, 29 and Sept. 5.

On Sept. 21, the inspection agency expanded the recall of beef products produced at the facility to involve prime cuts, including a variety of steaks and roasts and other beef products like soup bones.

It was only last Sunday, however, that the Yukon was notified that some of the potentially contaminated meat may have been distributed in the Yukon, Department of Health and Services spokeswoman Pat Living said this morning.

Dave Wilkes, vice-president of the Retail Council of Canada, said today on behalf of Loblaws that consumers can be assured any ground products purchased at Extra Foods or the Superstore after Sept. 16 is OK.

Similarly, any steaks or roasts bought after the Sept. 21 recall of prime cuts is also OK, shoppers can be sure, he said.

Wilkes said there is the distinct chance some consumers might have a listed product in the freezer. In that case, they should return it for a refund, or dispose of it, he said.

M & M Meats spokeswoman Patty Attwell said today that none of M & M products have been affected by the recall.

"We have followed up with each of our suppliers,” Attwell said.

Dr. Brendan Hanley, the Yukon's medical health officer, said if anybody has any of the identified products in their fridge or freezer, they should return them to the retailer or dispose of them.

If there's uneasiness about products that have been purchased but have not been identified, the consumers should leave them in the freezer until the investigation is completed, he said.

Hanley said more products might still be added to the list.

Cooking meat can often destroy the E-coli bacteria but it does not make any sense taking a chance with products identified on the recall list, which is available on the inspection agency's website.

"You can get your money back from the retailer,” the doctor pointed out. "There's no sense taking a risk.”

Hanley said the likelihood contaminated meat has reached the Yukon is low, but it's not zero.

E-coli 0157H7 is a nasty bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea or the swelling of bloods cells that could shut down kidneys, as was the case last year with the contamination of sprouts in Europe, or during the 2000 contaminated water tragedy in Walkerton, Ont., he explained.

Hanley said his office has sent out an advisory asking health professionals to keep a close eye out for cases of gastrointestinal illnesses or diarrhea.

His office, he pointed out, checks over activity from the hospital's emergency ward every morning as a matter of routine to check for anything out of the ordinary.

As well, it's looking a little closer these days for anything that may be related to the E-coli bacteria.

But there's been nothing so far, he said.

Hanley said the incubation period for the bacteria is anywhere from three to eight days.

The thing about E-coli 0157H7, he added, is that it packs a punch.

He explained, for instance, it takes about 100,000 bugs to pass on salmonella, whereas it takes anywhere from 10 to 100 E-coli 0157H7 bugs to bring about the illness.

It's not a given that if meat contaminated with E-coli is eaten the individual will get sick, Hanley said.