Maple Leaf product recall for 220 lines of products

Maple Leaf expands recall to 220 products

Product recall list: http://www.mapleleaf.ca/pdf/BartorRdProductRecallList.pdf

Company expanded list a precautionary measure and says Listeria has not been found in products beyond ones recalled earlier this month.

As a massive recall of an additional 220 Maple Leaf Foods products continues across the country (click here for complete list of recalled products), Canadian consumers are being urged to check their kitchens and return any packages to retailers marked 97B, the "establishment" number that identifies the north Toronto plant where it was produced.

Hundreds of thousands of kilograms of ready-to-eat meats supplied to grocery stores, fast-food outlets such as McDonald’s and Mr. Sub, hospitals, retirement and nursing homes were recalled last week. This weekend, the company announced the expanded recall after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Public Health Agency of Canada concluded that the strain of Listeria bacteria, which is linked to the illness and death of several consumers, matches the Listeria strain identified in some Maple Leaf food products.

The move is a precautionary measure as there is no evidence of Listeria contamination in product beyond the production lines originally under investigation, McCain said.

"We expect this additional recall to be implemented swiftly," CEO and president Michael McCain told a news conference this afternoon at Maple Leaf’s Toronto headquarters.

The company estimates the recall will cost its bottom line $20 million before taxes.

Four deaths have been blamed on the listeriosis outbreak out of 21 confirmed cases. Of the 21 confirmed cases, 16 are in Ontario, three are in British Columbia, one is in Saskatchewan and one is in Quebec. An additional 30 suspected cases are being probed to confirm if they are related to the outbreak. Since a person infected with listeriosis can take up to 70 days to show symptoms, public health officials expect the number of cases to continue growing over the next few weeks.

Maple Leaf Foods' Bartor Rd. processing plant remained closed this weekend for a massive sanitization operation. It was supposed to reopen tomorrow but that’s been pushed ahead to Tuesday.

McCain said Maple Leaf is also convening a team of world experts on listeria to review the company’s sanitization processes and to advise it on ways it could reduce the risks posed by listeria.
McCain said, however, it’s unlikely that the source of the contamination linked to the outbreak will ever be known because the bacteria is “so pervasive.”

“Listeria is commonly found in our environment,” said McCain. ``There’s a large, relatively meaningful percentage of the population that walk around as carriers of listeria. It exists in our environment, in your environment.”

He said recalls related to listeria aren’t rare, though the Maple Leaf Foods recall is unique in its magnitude.

Product recall list: http://www.mapleleaf.ca/pdf/BartorRdProductRecallList.pdf

http://healthzone.ca/health/article/484765