As more than one million pounds of beef affected by the XL Foods recall were dumped in a landfill on Sunday, an Alberta politician caused a stir by suggesting the meat could be served to “the hungry.”

Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith came under fire Sunday after she tweeted that disposing of the meat was a waste and agreed with another Twitter user’s suggestion that the beef could be used to feed the hungry.

Her comments caused an immediate backlash.

The leader of Alberta’s New Democrats, Brian Mason, tweeted he was “appalled” by Smith’s comments.

“I’m appalled that a public official would suggest feeding tainted meat to (Albertans) living in poverty,” he tweeted.

However Smith replied, saying she would eat the recalled beef if it was cooked properly.

“Brian we are trying to calm things down not stir things up. We all know meat can be safely eaten if cooked properly,” she tweeted.

Both Smith and Mason said they planned to comment further on the issue Monday.

XL Foods promised to destroy all meat affected by the massive recall caused by an E.coli contamination.

A CFIA spokesperson told CTV Edmonton Sunday that it is possible to safely treat beef tainted by E.coli.

However, those who work with Alberta’s homeless said they were offended by Smith’s comments.

“Even if there’s a speck of E.coli no matter how we cook it, we would not serve it,” Brady Ciochetti, a volunteer with Hope Mission, told CTV Edmonton.

Rachel Rattray of Homeward Trust, an organization that aims to end homelessness, said she wouldn’t want to risk offering potentially contaminated meat to any of the clients served by the agency.

“I don’t believe that’s right because E.coli can kill people,” she said.

More of the tainted beef is expected to be dumped Monday at a landfill close to the XL plant in Brooks, Alta.

The recall, which began last month, involves more than 1,800 products across Canada and the U.S.

The agency says up to 5.5 million kilograms of meat stored at the Brooks plant and warehouses that was not part of the recall will either be rendered or cooked at a high temperature to kill any E. coli.

The plant has been closed since Sept. 27. The U.S. has not allowed any beef from XL into the country since Sept. 13.

A strain of the bacteria linked to beef from the XL Foods plant has sickened 16 people in four provinces.

With a report from CTV Edmonton’s Sean Amato and files from The Canadian Press