I found it curious at the time that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had not said anything about a recall, even though it was obviously a federally-inspected plant that was involved because there were sick people from the Maritimes to the Prairies, and half were in Ontario.
So finally the CFIA has announced that Sofina Inc. of Toronto is recalling frozen breaded chicken
from two supermarket chains that sold it under their brand names.
Some of the unlucky consumers have ended up in hospital. Luckily nobody has died - yet.
Some of the
illnesses go back to mid-February.
The recall is chicken burgers sold under Loblaws’ No Name
brand and chicken strips and nuggets sold under Sobeys’ Compliments brand.
The two chains are the largest in Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency
says it is continuing its investigation and that might lead to more recalls.
It says on its website that “food
contaminated with Salmonella may
not look or smell spoiled but can still make you sick.
“Young children, pregnant women, the
elderly and people with weakened immune systems may contract serious and
sometimes deadly infections.
“Healthy people may experience
short-term symptoms such as fever, headache, vomiting, nausea, abdominal cramps
and diarrhea.
“Long-term complications may include
severe arthritis.”
Sofina has expanded rapidly in the last
10 years, buying Lilydale Inc., Janes Family Foods, Santa Maria Foods and at
one time was joint owner with Sun Capital Partners of Fearmans Pork Inc. of
Burlington, which is the biggest hog-packing plant in Ontario and was formerly
owned by Canada Packers and Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
Oh, yes, and may I mention that the federal government continues to boast that we have one of the best food inspection systems in the world. They've said it ever since I was the first reporter to use the U.S. Freedom of Information system to expose the sad state of affairs at Canadian meat-packing plants, including the crumbling - literally - old Burns Foods Ltd. plant in Kitchener in the mid-1970s.
