XL beef plant is back in business under new management after its E. coli shutdown.

New managers operate under tough standards

OTTAWA — The plant at the centre of Canada’s largest beef recall is back in business.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Tuesday it has reinstated the operating licence of XL Foods Inc.’s plant in Brooks, Alta., nearly a full month after the federal agency suspended it over the plant’s failure to manage E. coli risks. Sixteen people in four provinces became sick in the outbreak.

“The agency undertook a thorough assessment of food-safety controls at XL Foods Inc. That assessment is now complete,” Paul Mayers, an agency vice-president, told reporters. “Based on a full range of observation and testing, we are confident that all issues have been fully addressed.”

The facility, under new management after Edmonton-based Nilsson Brothers Inc. made a deal last week with a subsidiary of Brazil-based JBS S.A., is now ramping up to normal operations, under tougher oversight. The 430,000-sq.-ft. plant is set up to slaughter between 3,800 and 4,000 cattle daily, and 40 inspectors and six veterinarians are usually stationed there, split between two shifts.

In the short term, CFIA has assigned two additional inspectors to the facility to keep a closer eye on the company’s E. coli checks, plant sanitation and general food hygiene. In addition, CFIA will conduct more tests for E. coli beyond the company’s testing system, and hold products until all E. coli test results have been assessed.

Problems for XL Foods began on Sept. 4 when beef trimmings from the plant tested positive for E. coli during routine CFIA testing, triggering an in-depth review of plant practices. On the same day, U.S. authorities informed CFIA of a positive E. coli test on beef trimmings from the plant at the Montana border.

The U.S. shut the border to beef from the plant on Sept. 13, two weeks before the CFIA suspended the plant’s licence to produce meat for the Canadian market. The border remains closed for now.