October 24, 2012

Canadian Food Inspection Agency allows XL Foods' operation to resume

After the biggest recall of meat in Canadian history, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) allowed the XL Foods Inc. slaughterhouse to start up again on Tuesday (Oct.23)

"We are confident that all issues have been fully addressed," Paul Mayers, associate vice-president of programmes at the federal food inspection agency, told a news conference Tuesday.

The federal food safety watchdog added two more inspectors - there were already 40 full-time inspectors and six veterinarians split over two shifts - to oversee a "progressive" resumption of slaughter and meat processing operations at the Brooks, Atlanta plant that was shut down for nearly a month following an E. coli scare.

That increased scrutiny includes a higher than usual amount of testing for E. coli and holding all beef products until all those test results have been assessed. The food inspection agency temporarily suspended the operating licence of the Brooks facility - now being taken over by JBS USA- on September 27 because XL Foods had not implemented its recommendations.

Those recommendations stemmed from an in-depth investigation that revealed the plant had not properly followed its own plans to mitigate the risk of contamination from E. coli O157:H7. Inspectors did not notice this important gap during routine testing and the closer look came only after the USDA and the CFIA discovered E. coli O157:H7 in beef products from the Brooks facility in early September.

Mayers said the food inspection agency is confident that most companies are properly following the plans they have in place and has no evidence to suggest otherwise.

The CFIA also said an expert advisory committee will conduct a thorough review of what happened and it will make the results public.

The Public Health Agency of Canadahas confirmed 16 cases of people getting sick from the same strain of E. coli O157:H7 found at the XL Foods plant.