Canada wide Beef Recall Due to E-Coli Outbreak by Peter R

Canada wide Beef Recall Due to E-Coli Outbreak Canada’s largest meat recall has occurred in Calgary due to an E-Coli outbreak. The company involved had their plant shut down due to E-coli fears a week earlier. This case is a warning to other food consumers because the company involved was a leader in its field and enjoyed the public’s confidence in its safety. Often we are more careful when purchasing food from smaller outlets because we assume that the larger ones are more conscious towards safety and hygiene, this case proves that this is not always the case. The company has since improved their cleanliness, training and testing in order to overcome incidents such as this one in the future. In Alberta five people were made sick after they consumed the contaminated beef on the 16th of September however it took a significant 12 days before the public was warned of the outbreak. This highlights the danger of such outbreaks because of the huge delay between identification of the contamination and alerting the public. This post on the Canadian website www.TorontoSun.com has more:

Ground Alberta beef in seen in coolers at Bon Ton Meat Market in Calgary, Alberta, October 3, 2012. (Reuters/TODD KOROL)

“We believed XL Foods was a leader with our food safety protocols … we now learned it is not enough,” states the message’s female voice. “We take full responsibility for our plant’s operations and the food it produces.” The company says it’s stepping up its cleaning, training, testing and oversight practises, while giving no indication when the plant, which processes a third of Canada’s beef, will re-open. “Meat will continue to be under quarantine until test results are known,” the message says. “Food safety is simply too important to our customers, our employees and our business … we will continue to work collaboratively with 48 CFIA inspectors at the plant to ensure

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something like this never happens again.” http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/04/xl-foods-admits-responsibility-for-meat-recall

The symptoms of e-coli infection include severe cramps and diarrhoea and occur most often in the hot, Sumer months which present perfect conditions for the bacteria to multiply. The spread of E-Coli can be prevented by simple cleanliness and hygiene especially when preparing or working with food products. Those that are particularly vulnerable are children, the elderly, infants and terminally ill patients, who are most susceptible to contracting food borne illnesses such as E-Coli infection due to their lowered immune systems. This case is particularly significant to Australians because like Australia, Canada also has a very high standard of food inspection and safety, something which citizens depend on. However it is obvious that some do fall through the cracks and the potential for infection is still present. The unions in Canada have condemned the big manufacturers of being “too big to operate safely”, another issue that may also be relevant to Australian producers. The TorontoSun.com went on to state in a follow-up post: “We have a very strong food safety system in this country despite this incident,” Da Pont said. CFIA’s Dr. Richard Arsenault also cited delays in gaining documentation from XL beef. ”One of the things I’m going to seek in moving forward is getting access to data in real time,” he said. “Their communications with us are what they are.” http://www.torontosun.com/2012/10/03/ag-minister-defends-feds-handling-of-e-coli-outbr eak

http://www.foodhandlingcertificateonline.com/food-handling-certification-news/canada-wide-beef -recall-due-to-e-coli-outbreak/