The list of ground beef products potentially contaminated with E. coli bacteria continues to grow and encompass the country's top grocery retailers, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Friday.

The national food safety watchdog issued yet another expansion to a recall of ground beef products made by Edmonton-based XL Foods.

The latest additions to the growing list involve not only packages of ground beef, but products prepared with the meat suspected of containing E. coli. Those include sausages, meat loaf, meatballs and burgers.

Unbranded meat products carried at Walmart locations in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia have officially been recalled, the CFIA said. The other products included in the expanded advisory were sold at Metro locations in Ontario and Safeway stores in all five provinces.

The risk of contamination also exists in unlabelled or unbranded beef products sold at independent shops not covered on the CFIA's advisory, the agency said.

The CFIA is advising consumers who are unsure if they have the affected ground beef product in their home to check with the store where the product was purchased or throw it out.

Friday's announcement is the latest expansion of a recall that has already made itself felt in grocery stores from coast to coast.

The CFIA has said affected beef products have been distributed in all 10 provinces as well as parts of northern Canada.

Retailers forced to pull the products from their shelves include Sobeys, Co-op, Foodland, Giant Tiger and several corporate and franchised Loblaws Companies stores such as Real Canadian Superstore and Your Independent Grocer.

The CFIA has not reported any cases of infection linked to consuming tainted meat, but public health officials in Alberta are currently investigating five cases in that province.

Alberta Health Services has not connected those incidents to the beef recall.

Officials from the Public Health Agency of Canada were not immediately available for comment.

A complete list of stores and products affected by the recall can be found on the food inspection agency's website.