Product list could grow, CFIA warns

Critics say response too slow

The biggest recall of beef in Canadian history got bigger Friday as the list of products from XL Foods grew to include roasts and steaks and virtually any other food item that comes from a slaughtered cow.

A day after suspending the Edmonton-based company’s licence to operate, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency matched a wider health alert issued in the United States and defended what critics have called a slow response in warning the public about possible E. coli contamination.

There are four cases of E. coli poisoning confirmed from eating strip loin steaks processed at XL Foods’ packing house in Brooks and a fifth case under investigation. Despite a series of recalls that started on Sept. 16, late Thursday the CFIA recalled ground beef that was sold in retail stores and butcher shops as recently as Tuesday.

More recalls are expected over the next few days, CFIA officials said, as they sift through the company’s expansive distribution list.

The nationwide recall has affected most of Canada’s largest supermarket chains, and has now been expanded to major retailers in 30 U.S. states.

Additional recalls are expected over the next few days.

“The bottom line is that we take food safety very seriously, but that doesn’t mean the system we have in place is perfect every time, and this is proof,” said Dr. Richard Arsenault, the director of meat programs for the CFIA.

“What we have to keep doing is learn from this and get in a lot quicker next time.”

During a news conference in Ottawa on Friday, Arsenault said that while E. coli was detected in samples of raw beef from XL Foods in both countries by Sept. 4, a recall was never issued because none of the tainted meat ever found its way to the marketplace.

“There was no evidence in front of us to do something at the time,” Arsenault said.

“Things were generally working well. There was nothing that screamed out.”

With a team of 40 inspectors and six veterinarians supervising daily operations at the plant, the CFIA was confident it would quickly find the source of the E. coli and resolve the situation. But after U.S. authorities found two more positive samples of the potentially deadly bacteria in beef trimmings at the border on Sept. 12, the agency realized it might have a bigger problem on its hands.

The next day it removed XL Foods from the list of companies eligible to export products to the U.S., but again decided no recall was necessary because it had no evidence that any contaminated meat had reached the market.

Over the next three days, a review team from the CFIA continued investigating and started to uncover deficiencies they believe contributed to the problem: Although the company had monitoring measures in place, proper analysis of the data being collected was not done. While measures for dealing with meat that tested positive for E. coli 0157:H7 were properly laid out, they were not always being followed correctly. While containers of meat that tested positive were properly handled, a small number of containers produced just before and after the contaminated product were not always diverted from the fresh meat line, a breach of quality control. Sampling protocols were not always followed, which could have resulted in inaccurate test results.

Based on the review findings, XL Foods began to advise customers that it was recalling beef trimmings, and on Sept. 16 the first of eight health alerts was issued warning customers not to sell, serve or eat certain ground beef products that were made on Aug. 24, Aug. 28 and Sept. 5.

“It is not that the system isn’t working, it’s that we had a series of small things happen at once and they all added up,” Arsenault said. “It is definitely not a routine type of event.”

Over the next 10 days, the company was issued multiple corrections notices and one recall followed another until more than 300 products were being pulled off Canadian shelves.

Finally, the company’s licence was suspended until all of its deficiencies are corrected.

“We felt something extraordinary was needed because of the extraordinary circumstances,” Arsenault said. “I am fairly confident that given the right approach the company can get this sorted out. But we’re not going to let them operate until they do.

“We can’t have this anymore.”

The company had been issued correction notices in the past, CFIA officials said, but only a limited number.

“We feel we are working with the company the best we can under these circumstances,” Dr. Brian Evans, a special adviser to the CFIA, said during the hour-long news conference. “The company is providing us the support we need to make the decisions we have to make.”

Alberta’s beef and cattle industry, meanwhile, was reeling Friday.

“I can’t see this as something that’s going to be good for our industry,” Garth McClintock, owner and publisher of Alberta Beef Magazine, said from his office in Calgary. “I don’t recall the U.S. ever delisting a packing plant of this size before. “It can’t be good.” Prices for beef producers will fall, he said, because Cargill in High River, the one big packing plant still open, will no longer face competition for supply.

“The longer this goes on, the worse it’s going to become.”

Longview rancher Phil Rowland, president of the Western Stockgrowers Association, said he’s worried about the impact of the mass recall on the reputation of Alberta beef, in Canada and internationally.

“Nothing good can come from this, at least in the short term,” he said. “In the long term, when XL has its act together again, maybe we can take action to make sure something like this never happens again.”

At a news conference on Friday, provincial Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson said his focus is on food safety and that “speculation and finger pointing” can wait until the plant is up and running.

“We’re going to keep on working to improve the system, but I’m not going to spend all of my time looking for people to throw under the bus,” he said. “I just want the problem fixed, and I want it fixed quickly.

“There will be plenty of time for further discussion afterwards.”

Health Minister Fred Horne said he was confident the health system is working.

“This is something that is reportable by people who are affected, it is easily monitored by public health officials, and we’ve been completely open and transparent with Albertans about the cases that have been discovered.

“Do I have any concerns as the minister of health that we’re not on top of this? Absolutely not.”

In the House of Commons, the opposition also had questions about an apparent delay in taking action. For example, U.S. authorities began blocking shipments of meat from XL’s Alberta facility beginning Sept. 13, before CFIA issued its first recall of XL beef.

Agriculture Minister Minister Gerry Ritz said the “timeline actually backstops the fact that our system does work. There is no endemic situation out there from E. coli.

“E. coli exists across the country on a daily basis.

“Having said that, this government is focused on food safety. We want to go beyond what consumers expect. We have done that by constantly reinforcing what CFIA needs in the form of more inspection staff and more dollars to get the job done,” Ritz said in response to a question from NDP MP Nycole Turmel.