Maple Leaf Still Plagued By Listeria
Posted October 9, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A strain of Listeria bacterium has once again been discovered at Maple Leaf Foods’ Toronto plant. As part of large-scale testing, the company turned up four tainted samples out of a field of 5,000.
The facility had been shut down in mid-August in the wake of a listeria outbreak and one of the largest food recalls in Canadian history. But the plant underwent a massive clean-up and, although none of its products have been sold since, reopened on September 17.
Going into damage control, Maple Leaf CEO Michael McCain released a statement Wednesday, saying Listeria is common at all food production facilities and the samples were not unexpected.
“Listeria exists in all food plants, all supermarkets and presumably in all kitchens,” McCain stressed. “While there is no risk to the public, we are behaving in the most conservative way possible. Our testing protocols are designed to find positive results so we can remediate them immediately.”
McCain had taken personal responsibility for the original incident that saw 191 of his company’s products withdrawn from kitchens and store shelves at an estimated cost of $20 million. An investigation traced the bacteria to slicing machines.
“The Canadian Food Directorate believes that the incidence of Listeria monocytogenes in all ready-to-eat foods, everything from vegetables, smoked fish, cheese and prepared meats, ranges from one to 10 per cent,” McCain said.
“It’s reasonable to assume we consume it every day and we have for thousands of years.”
The strain discovered Wednesday is different than the one linked to the outbreak that killed 20 people, and McCain stressed the distinction between the two events.
“What occurred two months ago is not what’s happening today,” he said.
“What’s happened yesterday is routine — no risk to the Canadian public, happens every day in the Canadian food industry.”
“While this plant has undergone intensive sanitization, we will never, never eliminate it. This is an impossible expectation. It exists in all food plants, all supermarkets, and presumably all kitchens.”
