Maple Leaf Foods Listeria Contamination, Just a Symptom of a Larger Problem

January 12, 2009

In Canada in 2008 a number of people died from listeriosis as a direct result of eating prepackaged meats that were contaminated with the listeria monocytogenes bacteria. The meats were apparently all packaged by Maple Leaf Foods. In early August 2008 the contamination had been linked to 4 deaths. As the investigation progressed more deaths were linked to the listeria contamination. By October 1, 2008 20 deaths had been linked by the Public Health Agency of Canada to the listeria contamination of Maple Leaf Foods products.

I followed with interest the media reports of this process. I also had the advantage of discussions with a family member that, although retired for a few years, worked as a food scientist for many years for a large multinational corporation. In his capacity within that corporation he investigated the safety aspects of companies involved in the meat processing/packaging industries, the dairy industries, juice industries and many other food product industries.

For some background I must say that I first began having discussions with this family member on food safety concerns a number of years ago. I had been raised and firmly believed that "best before" dates on products were mandated by goverment regulators and therefore would always build a "comfort" zone. It was not uncommon for me to drink milk a few days past the "best before" date. I was taken to task by my wife. She insisted we pour it out. You see, it is her father that is the food scientist.

While I at first objected to dumping milk, yogurt and other dairy products the day or so before the "best before" date as needless waste, I changed my tune after numerous conversations with my father in law. He told me with no hesitation that there will be many deaths throughout North America as a result of innappropriate food safety practices in the dairy and meat industries. In fact, there have likely been many many deaths throughout North America that were caused by contaminated food products but due to the reality of our ability to track the cause, were never linked to the food products.

Then a number of years ago in Walkerton, a small agricultural community in Southern Ontario, tragedy resulted from contaminated water supplies. The town had, as I recall, approximately 4500 residents. Almost half became ill and at least 7 people died as a result of that contamination.

As the Walkerton crisis became public and the causes of the water contamination became public I had the opportunity to hear my father in law's thoughts on food safety. In more than one of those conversations I heard him say something like "the Walkerton tragedy is nothing compared to tragedies that will occur from contaminated milk or meat products in the future". I was shocked. I then heard story after story of various problems within the food industries and the specific safety measures that could be implemented but are not.

Both Canadian and American regulations fall significantly short of protecting the public. Food companies talk a good talk but truly do not take the actions that could ensure much higher levels of safety.

I was not surprised when we began to learn of deaths from packaged meat products. I am not surprised by the reactions of the leaders of Maple Leaf Foods nor of the government regulatory agencies.

In one of my first conversations with my father in law in August 2008 after we became aware of the deaths from Maple Leaf Foods products he confirmed precisely what Mr. McCain (CEO of Maple Leaf Foods) told the public ultimately. Listeria is a very common bacteria. It is not a surprise to anyone in the meat packaging industry when listeria is found.

So what is the point of this blog? In my first conversation with my father in law following the discovery that people were dying from listeriosis as a result of tainted meat my father in law advised me that although there were regulations dealing with testing meat products for listeria, there was no regulation in Canada that required any testing of the surface areas that the product comes in contact with. It appears in retrospect that he suspected that it was precisely the non testing of surface areas that allowed listeria to build up to levels of danger that were ultimately found on the surface area of a meat slicing machine.

This weekend I was visiting my in laws. At dinner last night I was told that our regulatory body in Canada has announced that there are now regulations requiring the testing of "surface areas" in meat packaging plants. So why were there no regulations before now? Our government agency would have us believe that the surface testing was "implied" by the regulations. I kid you not. That is a quote I read on the internet this morning.

But that raises an even larger concern. If in fact that person was correct - that the surface testing for listeria was implied in the regulations, why was it not done? And, if you believe that, clearly the government can no longer assume that the industry will take the initiative and do its' own safety testing, right? WRONG. A quote in an article today said that the regulatory body views the mandatory surface testing as "scaffolding" upon which the large meat producing companies will build their own processes for safety assurance.

This appears to me to be an attempt of the government and the industry to give the public the pretense of safety rather than the reality of safety. I am brought back to those words I heard years ago when the Walkerton water tragedy unfolded, these deaths could be a drop in the bucket compared to what will happen in the dairy and / or meat industry in the future. I was told, and now absolutely believe, it is not a matter of "if" such a tragedy will happen, just "when" and where and how many will die.

I will be doing a more in depth articles so check back regularly to the Injury Alliance Articles page over the next few weeks.

Please feel free to comment on this blog. We would like to know what you think.

**Note: Blog postings are subject to a screening process, they may not appear right away.**