The new management at XL Foods Inc.
still has problems keeping the beef-packing plant up to snuff.
The Canadian Food Inspection agency
reports on its website that water to sanitize knives was not hot enough to kill
harmful bacteria.
It also found area that “weren’t adequately
cleaned”.
Condensation dripped from overhead
pipes. Floor mats that are supposed to disinfect employees boots did not have
sanitizing chemicals.
The CFIA ordered the managers, JBS
USA, to make corrections and they condemned some meat that went for rendering.
The CFIA is also waiting for lab
results before it will release beef trim being held at the plant.
One has to wonder, now that the plant is under intense CFIA scrutiny, how bad conditions were leading up to the E. coli 0157:H7 contamination that resulted in the largest beef recall in Canadian history.
I guess the 48 inspectors in the plant that Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz assured the public were on top of the situation were not up to the task at hand. However, Ritz continues to hold his cushy cabinet job after being at the helm for two monstrous recalls - this one at XL, the other at Maple Leaf Foods' plant in Toronto that resulted in the death of at least 22 Canadians from Listeria food poisoning.
