After a major public uproar, a Canadian restaurant chain has admitted that it made an error.

In a statement on its website, Vancouver-based Earls Kitchen + Bar says it's going to source as much beef as it can from Alberta "that meets our requirements".

Earls also pledged to "work with cattle ranchers to build supply".

It came in the wake of criticism that the company's plan to stop buying Alberta beef and purchase future supplies from Kansas.

"We've made a mistake," Earls stated. "We want to make that right."

However, the company said that it's still committed to offering customers beef that has never been treated with antibiotics or growth hormones.

"We set out to find a source of beef to provide us with the quantity of cattle we need, we found one in Alberta, but the supply was limited, so we found a supplier in the US who could supply what we needed," Earls said. "Since then, you've told us that sourcing locally is very important. We have had ranchers reach out to us to help supply us with product from Alberta."

Earls was founded in 1982 by the father-and-son team of Bus and Stanley Fuller. The company has 7,000 employees working in 65 locations. Its first outlet was on Whyte Avenue in Edmonton.