Re: Moral Dilemma
When it comes to cleaning an area were meat is butchered, There is no "SHORTCUTS"
OTTAWA ? Maple Leaf Foods expanded a product recall Saturday after test results confirmed that an outbreak of listeriosis that has claimed four lives across Canada is linked to processed meats produced at one of the company?s plants.
The expanded recall will include all products from the Toronto facility ?as a precautionary measure,? the company said.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and the Public Health Agency of Canada have been testing samples of recalled meat for the past week to determine the source of a fatal outbreak of listeriosis.
At a news conference late Saturday night, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and public health officials announced that results of genetic testing from three samples of the recalled products show that two tested positive for the outbreak strain of listeria. A third was a close match, but with a slight variance.
The results are ?highly significant? and show the investigation is ?on the right path,? said the statement by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
More test results are expected next week.
Maple Leaf began a recall of two of its brands last Sunday and, soon after, expanded the recall to 23 and shut down its Toronto plant for a thorough cleaning and inspection by investigators.
Since then, health authorities have been scrambling to determine how many deaths or illnesses can be confirmed as linked to ingestion of the particularly deadly strain of the Listeria monocytogenes bacterium carried in the contaminated food.
Michael McCain, president and chief executive officer of Maple Leaf, said the company has a culture of food safety with standards ?well beyond? what regulators require.
?This week, our best efforts failed,? he said at a news conference in Toronto after the test results were announced Saturday night.
The additional product recall is expected to be implemented swiftly, with a list of affected products to be published by the company Sunday morning.
In the meantime, the Toronto facility remains closed during ?the most comprehensive sanitization possible,? McCain said, adding the process is expected to be complete by early this week.
McCain called the fatal outbreak a ?terrible tragedy? that has shaken confidence in Maple Leaf.
"Tragically, our products have been linked to illness and loss of life,?_McCain continued. ?To those people who are ill, and to the families who have lost loved ones, I offer my deepest and sincerest sympathies. Words cannot begin to express our sadness for their pain."
Earlier Saturday, the Public Health Agency of Canada upped to 21 the number of cases of the listeriosis outbreak that have been confirmed so far in four provinces. The agency said 16 of the cases were found in Ontario, three in British Columbia, and one each in Saskatchewan and in Quebec.
Three deaths in Ontario ? St. Catharines, Hamilton and Waterloo ? have been officially tied to the deadly strain of the food-borne listeria bacterium, and a fourth death on Vancouver Island has also been attributed to the strain.
The public health agency also said a further 30 suspected cases remain under investigation. Of those, 14 are in Ontario, eight are in Quebec, four are in Alberta and two each are in B.C. and Saskatchewan.
The investigation, which involves the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and provincial and local health authorities, involves an analysis of health information from sick individuals, and cross-referencing any findings against the result of tests on food.
Eating food contaminated with listeria can lead to the development of listeriosis, a food-borne illness.
Symptoms of listeriosis are often flu-like and can include nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness, constipation and persistent fever.
Symptoms usually appear within two to 30 days, but it can take up to 90 days to get sick after someone has eaten contaminated food.
The agency said Saturday it expects the number of confirmed and suspected cases to increase over the next several weeks.
On Friday, Dr. Richard Schabas, medical officer of health for Hastings and Prince Edward counties in Ontario, said another elderly man was found to have died of the same cause in July.
However, federal officials have not confirmed that case as being among those tied to the outbreak. CFIA official Paul Mayers said Saturday he had no information about that case.
Earlier Saturday, the food inspection agency and Royal Touch Foods warned the public not to serve or consume the Shopsy?s deli-fresh Classic Reuben sandwich, because it could be contaminated with listeria.
The sandwiches contain sliced corned beef, one of the ready-to-eat deli meat products recalled by Maple Leaf. Only a small number of the suspect sandwiches were sold in a limited number of outlets in Ontario and no illnesses have been associated with the consumption of these sandwiches.
? (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
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