XL PLANT FACES VISIT FROM U.S. OFFICIALS
Regular trip north not tied to outbreak
We have to learn, we have to take the time to sort out what has happened, PREMIER ALISON REDFORD
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has decided to visit the plant at the centre of Canada’s largest ever beef recall in the wake of the E. coli scare.
The systems audit of Canadian meat plants is conducted every three years, and the timing of the USDA’s regularly scheduled audit, to begin on Oct. 22, is not directly related to the E. coli outbreak linked to XL Foods Inc.’s plant in Brooks, Alta. But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed Friday that a visit to the XL Foods plant had not been on the initial itinerary.
However, CFIA and the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) “both felt it was important to include a visit to the establishment during the audit, to help FSIS with a full appreciation of CFIA’s investigative process and ensuing improvements,” the agency said in a statement.
Limited operations resumed at the plant on Thursday, when CFIA announced it had approved the company’s new E. coli control plan. In an exclusive interview with Postmedia News Thursday, Brian Nilsson, the company’s co-chief executive officer, called the development “a strong first step to moving back to a more normalized operation.” CFIA had suspended the plant’s licence on Sept. 27.
Premier Alison Redford said the limited re-start of the plant was “good news” but rejected calls for a public inquiry into the recall.
“Every single time that something doesn’t go well, we don’t need to have a public inquiry,” Redford told reporters in Calgary Thursday. We have to learn, we have to take the time to sort out what has happened, where we can improve systems, where the CFIA can improve systems, where commercial enterprises may be able to improve systems,” she said.
Normal operations at Canada’s second-largest beef plant will resume when CFIA is confident the facility’s newly approved E. coli control plan is working as designed, the agency said.
Until then, no beef products will leave the facility and no new cows will be allowed to enter the facility for slaughter.
The limited processing, which will take place under close CFIA watch, will allow the federal agency to scrutinize whether the plant has improved its food safety controls, Dr. Harpreet Kochhar, CFIA executive director of western operations said.
Problems for XL Foods began on Sept. 4 when beef trimmings from the slaughterhouse tested positive for E. coli during routine CFIA testing. On the same day, U.S. authorities informed CFIA of a positive E. coli test on beef trimmings from the XL Foods plant at the Montana border.
The U.S. shut the border to beef from the XL Foods plant on Sept. 13. The border remains closed.
After the plant meets all the conditions to the satisfaction of CFIA, and U.S. authorities are satisfied a safe product is being produced, FSIS will assess if the plant should be reinstated as an eligible plant to import beef the U.S.
The USDA’s foreign audit program is designed to assess whether the regulatory inspection systems of foreign countries are equivalent to American standards. U.S. auditors visit CFIA headquarters in Ottawa, regional offices, establishments and laboratories.
CFIA declined to provide a full list of establishments to be visited during this year’s audit.
“We do not announce ahead of time the names of other establishments, to ensure the audit is true to the day-to-day operations.”
CFIA officials have said it won’t allow the company to resume normal operations until it is satisfied it can operate safely.
Doug O’Halloran, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers local that represents 2,200 plant employees, said some leftover carcasses were processed Friday as the company tries to show food inspectors that sanitation and maintenance problems have been solved.