Vol. 72/No. 36      September 15, 2008

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Public Health Agency of Canada have confirmed that the outbreak originated from infected production lines at the Maple Leaf Foods deli-meat plant here. Maple Leaf Foods, Canada’s largest food processing company, recalled more than 1 million pounds of deli meat, including 220 different products it had shipped across the country. The contaminated plant, which has 250 workers, was shut down so that crews, under CFIA supervision, could clean and sanitize the plant.

The infected deli meat was supplied to McDonald’s and Mr. Sub restaurants, as well as supermarkets, nursing homes, and hospitals.

Listeria is a food-borne bacterium to which older people and those with weakened immune systems are particularly vulnerable. Most of those that have died from eating this meat have been over 50 years of age. Pregnant women who are infected are also at risk as listeria can result in stillborn or acutely ill babies

“When you cut corners with sanitation this is what happens,” Fatima Rombeiro, a scale operator in the cut department at Maple Leaf Pork, told the Militant.

The listeria crisis takes place as the federal government is preparing job cuts of food inspectors. A leaked document that is currently being discussed by the Canadian parliament’s agricultural committee outlines a plan to save money by shifting CFIA meat inspectors to an oversight role and allowing the food industry to implement its own food safety programs.

Canada’s agriculture minister Gerry Ritz publicly warned a CFIA biologist that he could “face charges” for leaking the document. The biologist, Luc Pomerleau, is a member of the Professional Institute of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, one of the largest unions in the country. He was fired for having sent the document, which is available on the CFIA internal server, to his union.

Pomerleau has defended his actions because of the impact that the proposed government cuts would have on inspection jobs and public policy. He is confident that a grievance through his union will win his job back.

Michèle Demers, president of the union’s Professional Institute, has called for a public inquiry into food inspection in Canada. Demers said inspection needs to happen before food gets to the store shelves and these “audits aren’t being made” because CFIA is “too short-staffed.”

Rosemary Ray is a member of the United Food and Commerical Workers union at the Maple Leaf Pork plant in Burlington, Ontario. Annette Kouri, a member of UFCW at Ecolait in La Plaine, Quebec, contributed to this article.  
 
 
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