A
scientific paper published this month in the journal Foodborne Pathogens and
Disease indicates Maple Leaf Foods Inc. could have done more to prevent 22
people from dying of poisonous Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in the company’s
meat products.
For example, it says “the cleaning and disinfection procedures at the IMP were inadequate."
That doesn't speak well for either Maple Leaf or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency staff at the plant.
Fifty-seven
people, 57 per cent of them residents in nursing homes, were stricken before
the source of the outbreak was identified and the products were recalled.
The
plant in Toronto was eventually shut down because officials had trouble
tracking down the source of the bacteria.
Eventually
they discovered a haven inside meat-slicing equipment. The company had followed
the equipment manufacturer’s recommendations for sanitation, but learned that
complete disassembly was required to get at the place where the bacteria were
hiding.
The
Canadian Food Inspection Agency changed its requirements for equipment
sanitation following the outbreak.
The
paper also identifies other shortcomings at the Maple Leaf plant:
“Plant inspections identified several areas of
concern. A building construction project was initiated in April 2008.
"There was
structural damage and poor maintenance in certain rooms containing RTE (ready
to eat) product and evidence of condensate dripping onto unpackaged finished
product in a common refrigerated storage room.
“IMP documentation indicated that
Listeria spp. were detected at least 16 times between May 1 and August 16,
2008, in routine environmental swabs of food contact surfaces on lines A and B,
two other production lines (lines C and D), and associated equipment.
“In response to each positive finding, the IMP
staff sanitized production line surfaces and other areas where bacteria could
grow.
“However, there was no analysis of trends over time
to identify the underlying cause of the contamination.
“The cleaning and disinfection procedures at the
IMP were inadequate.
“In addition, employee flow between rooms created
opportunities for cross-contamination of finished product.”
Dr. Doug Powell writes on his blog, Barfblog.com,
that “as I
have long maintained, the best food producers, processors, retailers and
restaurants will go above and beyond minimal government and auditor standards
and sell food safety solutions directly to the public.
“The
best organizations will use their own people to demand ingredients from the
best suppliers; use a mixture of encouragement and enforcement to foster a food
safety culture; and use technology to be transparent — whether it’s live
webcams in the facility or real-time test results on the website — to help
restore the shattered trust with the buying public.
“And
the best cold-cut companies should stop dancing around and explicity tell
pregnant women, old people and other immunocompromised folks, through labels or
point-of-sale information, don’t eat this food unless it’s heated (watch the
cross-contamination)."
