From 2009 until 2013, XL Foods' Lakeside Packers Division was located just west of Brooks, Alberta, in Newell County.
[2] XL Foods grew from a collection of ranches, feedlots and feed mills into one of the foremost Canadian-owned and operated beef processors in Western Canada.
The plant was processing between 2000 and 5000 cattle per day,[4][5] representing approximately one-third of Canada's 2012 beef slaughtering capacity.
[6] According to American regulators and the CFIA, testing practices in place at the plant were not stringent enough to protect consumers from the E. coli contamination.
A total of 18 confirmed cases of infection with E. coli O157:H7 were reported during the subsequent outbreak linked to XL Foods.