Federal inspectors not at fault for listeriosis outbreak: agriculture minister

Federal inspectors in charge of overseeing health standards at a Maple Leaf Foods processing plant at the centre of a deadly outbreak of listeriosis were doing their job properly, Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Wednesday.

Ritz, joined by members of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Health Canada at a news conference in Ottawa, denied allegations that the federal inspector responsible for the plant was mired in paperwork and was not present on the floor of the plant.

Wednesday's comments came amid growing questions about whether anticipated changes to the federal food inspection system, detailed in a government memo that was leaked last month, may already have been in use at the Toronto plant at the heart of the outbreak.

"When you go back and you look at the strategic review document… none of it has ever been implemented, but the thrust of what was discussed in that document was on the slaughter side, not on the processing side that we're talking about here today," said Ritz when asked why the proposed changes were already put into play on March 31.

The CFIA implemented a new system in March that offered inspectors greater oversight over a plant's safety procedures, he said.

The Tories had budgeted an extra $113 million in 2008 on food safety and will hire an additional 58 food inspectors by the end of the fiscal year on top of the 200 inspectors they hired since taking office in Jan. 2006, he added.

Eating foods spoiled with the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes can result in serious illness, including brain and blood infections and in extreme cases, death.

Health officials at the news conference revised the number of deaths that were a direct consequence of the outbreak to five from six.

Ten other deaths of people with the outbreak strain of listeriosis remain under investigation.

Inspectors not comfortable with changes

Earlier Wednesday, Bob Kingston, a union official and former inspector with the CFIA, told CBC News that inspectors at the plant had been relegated to auditing paperwork and dealing with several other facilities.

Since the changes were made, inspectors have spent less time on the factory floor, a move that reduces their awareness of the happenings on the floor, said Kingston.

But doing paperwork to review the results of testing at the plant is "fundamental" to ensuring the standard of food quality, said the CFIA's Paul Mayers, who was at the news conference with Ritz.

"Those that might characterize paperwork in a derogatory sense, I would challenge, given that that scientific review demonstrates the safety and security of the entire process used to produce food," he said.

Maple Leaf takes blame

Also Wednesday, the president of Maple Leaf Foods said his company should bear the responsibility for the distribution of meat that led to the outbreak, effectively absolving the Canadian food safety system of blame.

"This week, it's our best efforts that failed, not the regulators or the Canadian food safety system," Michael McCain said at a separate news conference Wednesday in Toronto.

"I emphasize: This is our accountability and it's ours to fix, which we are taking on fully. We have and we continue to improve on our action plans," he said.

The company recalled products well beyond those that had tested positive for the listeria bacterium, contacting all of its direct customers and warehouses and some 87 per cent of warehouses in the Canadian food chain, said McCain.

He said he wasn't aware of any changes to the nature of an inspector's job, adding a CFIA inspector is present on the plant every time the plant is running.

It remained unclear Wednesday when the Toronto plant at the heart of the outbreak, which was scheduled to resume production Thursday, would reopen, McCain said.

"We will not re-start the plant until this investigation is complete, and I've signed off on it personally."

New recalls in Quebec and elsewhere

In the latest food recall, a warning was issued late Wednesday not to serve or consume some food products sold at Costco stores under the Kirkland brand.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Kirkland Signature brand platters may be contaminated with listeria bacteria.

The platters contain a ready-to-eat deli meat product recalled by Maple Leaf. There have been no reported illnesses associated with consumption of the platters.

Also, Quebec officials recalled two types of cheese on Wednesday after a pair of store samples tested positive for listeria.

The strain found in the Quebec cheese is not linked to the processed meat made by the Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto, said Guy Auclair of the province's food and agricultural department.

Auclair, the department's director of food inspection, said it's a coincidence the cheese recall comes at the same time as that outbreak. Several recalls linked to listeriosis take place in Quebec each year, he said.

Two people with listeriosis have died in Quebec in recent days. One of them had the strain linked to Maple Leaf Foods, but in the other case the strain has not yet been determined.