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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Some Maple Leaf meat products were recalled from store shelves last week due to bacteria that can cause an illness known as listeriosis.

Young, healthy adults are more likely to experience flu-like symptoms of listeriosis.

Recalled food list

However, elderly, pregnant woman and people with weak immune systems are at a higher risk.

The illness has proven deadly elsewhere in Canada.

"There aren't any really suspect cases and there aren't any confirmed cases in the Northwest Territories," NWT chief environmental officer Duane Fleming said last week.

In the past several days the recall list jumped to more than 220 items, with products still being added.

Now included are Maple Leaf products sold under the Schneiders, Hygrade, Parma, Hickory Farms, Shopsy's, Western Family, Artisan Collection, Compliments, Campfire, Overlander and Safeway names.

Members of the public who have meat marked "97B" are asked to either throw the meat out, or return it to the store of purchase for disposal. Testing is not being done on such meat.

Scott Crocket, a district manager with The Northwest Company, said all stores acted as soon they received word of the recall.

"We're continuing to monitor all the updates as they come through and taking appropriate measures whenever needed," said Crockett.

Fort Good Hope Co-op Store manager Dana Pippy said his store also took immediate action on the recall.

"We checked every thing and I think I only had a couple of packages so I threw them out," he said.

He said sales of processed meats aren't a huge item at his store so their sales were not affected that much.

Ian McLeod, of Aklavik, said he and his family were not bothered by the recall of packaged meats.

"We don't buy very much of that deli mea so we didn't have to throw any out," he said.

McLeod said he feels safer eating wild food since he has processed the meat himself and can be sure of its cleanliness and quality.

Over the Aug. 23-24 weekend health officials confirmed the link between meat processed at a plant in Toronto and the bacteria. There have been eight deaths reported in Ontario, one in B.C. and one in Albert. Six other deaths were under investigation across Canada.

There were 31 confirmed cased of listeriosis as of Aug. 30, with 32 suspected cases.

While there are no confirmed serious cases in the NWT, there are "people that have been seen by clinicians in NWT who have claimed that they've eaten the meat," Fleming said.

A complete list of recalled products is available on the News/North website at www.nnsl.com.