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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Ottawa orders review of E. coli crisis, response
The XL Foods plant at the centre of the crisis. (LARRY MACDOUGAL / THE CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES)
OTTAWA -- The federal government has launched a review of the E. coli outbreak last fall that sickened 18 people and led to the largest beef recall in Canadian history.
The review is to focus on what contributed to the outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria at the XL Foods Inc. plant in Brooks, Alta.
It will also look at how well the Canadian Food Inspection Agency performed, including why tainted meat was distributed to retailers and sold to consumers.
Agriculture Canada said an independent panel of experts will conduct the review and are to hand in a report with recommendations to improve food safety.
"We take the safety of Canada's food supply very seriously and we remain committed to the continuous improvement of Canada's strong food-safety systems," Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said in a news release Friday.
At the time of the E. coli outbreak, the XL Foods plant was the largest Canadian-owned beef slaughter facility in the country.
It is now owned and operated by JBS Food Canada, a subsidiary of JBS South America.
The federal government said the review panel includes recognized scientific, public-health and meat-industry experts.
They include Ronald Lewis, former chief veterinary officer for British Columbia; Dr. André Corriveau, chief public health officer for the Northwest Territories; and Ronald Usborne, a former executive with Caravelle Foods.
The review is to look at the design, implementation and oversight of food-safety controls at the plant, including CFIA inspection policies, and how well testing information was shared by the company, inspectors and U.S. regulators.
The panel is to review the effectiveness of E. coli-prevention protocols, including the ability to detect problems, recall beef products and how well the agency conducted followups.
Federal documents have shown CFIA inspectors issued six warnings to XL Foods about conditions in the plant between January 2012 and when the plant was temporarily shut down in September.
Some of the problems noted included improper sanitization of equipment, condensation dripping onto beef carcasses and containers overflowing with unsanitary water.
The agency said all of the problems cited were dealt with before the first cases of E. coli were found in beef produced at the plant.
-- The Canadian Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 9, 2013 A20
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