Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith's response to a Red Deer man's tweet questioning whether tainted XL Foods meat could be saved to feed the poor instead of being sent to a landfill has put the Alberta politician on the defensive.

Smith said she made a mistake and has learned a lesson about social media.

Hundreds of tonnes of the recalled beef were dumped in a Brooks, Alta., landfill over the weekend. The meat is from the beef processing plant, which is at the centre of an E. coli scare that involved more than 1,800 products.

On Sunday, Ray Yechtel's tweet asked Smith, “Is there no way to cook it [the meat] so it’s safe and feed the hungry?”

Smith responded, saying, "I agree. We all know thorough cooking kills E. coli. What a waste."

The online comment sparked a lot of talk, with many accusing Smith of suggesting the tainted beef should be fed to the homeless.

Alberta NDP Leader Brian Mason tweeted that he’s appalled a public official would suggest feeding tainted meat to Albertans living in poverty.

Smith told CBC News that isn't what she meant.

"That's what he said,” said Smith, referring to Yechtel’s tweet.

“My comments were focused in on whether or not you could actually kill this bacteria by cooking it properly and whether that was sufficient. But you know, we have to defer to [the Canadian Food Inspection Agency]. They're the regulator; they made the decision that you couldn't safely do that, so they did not certify the beef."

Smith said she now realizes it isn't always possible to fully explain yourself in 140 characters on Twitter.

She said she is disappointed the meat can’t be salvaged, and would purchase recalled meat if it were approved for sale.

"Looks like the CFIA is making a different decision and that's how it goes. That's a lot of product that unfortunately goes to waste. But that's what they have determined we have to do to move on. I think we accept that."

Better yet, just leave the tainted uncooked meat in dumpsters where the homeless congregate. Reduce the homeless problem I bet. Why is it somebody always wants to feed stuff to the homeless that they themselves wouldn't touch with a 10 ft pole?

If it was only e coli and nothing else I would take the ground beef if they were giving it away!

I'd take the uncut stuff too, sterilize it and make it into ground.

5 million kg of beef.

Even the NDP (did they even elect anyone?) should be able to understand a statement like "Is there no way to cook it so it’s safe and feed the hungry?”.

And on a personal note.

The wife and I are about to dig into a large Prime Rib Roast cooked blood rare so if you don't see me around again for awhile you'll know that this excellent meal wasn't one of my brightest or best ideas.

More of a gaffe than a statement of policy. Smith was technically correct but said it the wrong way. The beef wasn't going to be sold anyway as the inspectors wouldn't certify it.

On a side note, how many people out there are under-cooking their beef anyway? I baked a steak last week for an hour at 325 F and it turned out awesome. Still juicy and not overcooked yet happily non-lethal. Is there a steak tartar trend going on out there that I'm unaware of where yuppies and hipsters are deliberately eating raw beef for the (ugh) thrill of it? The way the burger joints overcook everything these days the illnesses aren't coming from them.

More of a gaffe than a statement of policy. Smith was technically correct but said it the wrong way. The beef wasn't going to be sold anyway as the inspectors wouldn't certify it.

On a side note, how many people out there are under-cooking their beef anyway? I baked a steak last week for an hour at 325 F and it turned out awesome. Still juicy and not overcooked yet happily non-lethal. Is there a steak tartar trend going on out there that I'm unaware of where yuppies and hipsters are deliberately eating raw beef for the (ugh) thrill of it? The way the burger joints overcook everything these days the illnesses aren't coming from them.