The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has shut down the XL
Foods Ltd. plant at Brooks, Alta., which is the most drastic action the agency
can take.
It has also detained all of the meat at the plant and says
it won’t be released until testing confirms it is safe.
The plant has been under intensive scrutiny and orders to
clean up since U.S. border inspectors identified E. coli 1057:H7 in a shipment
of ground beef from the plant.
The United States had the CFIA yank XL’s permission to
export to the U.S. on Sept. 16.
Although the CFIA confirmed those results a day later, it
took more than a week for the agency to start issuing recalls.
It has taken
another two weeks for the agency to realize that the company isn’t cleaning up
as ordered and promised and to suspend its licence, effectively shutting it down. The CFIA also gradually extended the recall bit by bit until it embraced
products shipped right across Canada.
The United States Food Safety and Inspection Service has
issued its own recall of XL beef that extends to more than 30 states and
includes big retailers, such as Walmart, Krogers and Albertson’s.
In Canada the recall includes ground beef, meatloaf and
similar products marketed by Safeway, Loblaws, Sobeys, Metro, Co-op and many
more retailers.
The CFIA issued a statement, noting that the company took
initial steps to comply, but “based
on information provided by XL Foods Inc. on September 26, as well as through
CFIA inspector oversight, the CFIA has determined that these deficiencies have
not been completely corrected.
“To date, the
company has not adequately implemented agreed upon corrective actions and has
not presented acceptable plans to address longer-term issues,” the CFIA said.
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said nothing in the CFIA statement. A day earlier he said in the House of Commons that none of the XL beef reached consumers, that nobody has fallen ill and that the CFIA's performance has been "outstanding" and "exemplary".
The closure of the XL plant idles Canada's second-largest beef-slaughtering facility. Beef farmers in Alberta a bound to suffer because they will have to find markets further from home.
Meanwhile, Ritz and the CFIA staff will continue to draw full salary and benefits.
