E. coli outbreak may spur changes

OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the way inspectors do their job may have to change after the system failed to detect an emerging food-safety issue at one of Canada’s largest slaughterhouses.

Richard Arsenault, director of CFIA’s meat inspection system, made the comments Friday in an interview with Postmedia News, after the agency suspended the operating licence of XL Foods Inc.’s facility in Brooks, Alberta.

Meat produced at the slaughterhouse, the second-largest in Canada, is the subject of a sweeping and expanding recall of beef products in Canada and the United States because of E. coli contamination.

“Clearly, we will ask ourselves, ‘What happened in this particular case that could have perhaps been prevented by doing something different?’ But I don’t think you want to generalize that by saying the system is broken — because the overall incidence of E. coli has been going down,” Arsenault said.

In the case of the XL Foods facility, 40 CFIA inspectors and six veterinarians are stationed at the plant full-time, split in two groups to cover two production shifts at the massive facility.

CFIA began an in-depth investigation Sept. 4 after the agency detected E. coli in XL Foods products as part of its random testing program.

In the eight months leading up to CFIA’s in-depth investigation, it issued five Corrective Action Requests (CARs). All were resolved — meaning the company presented a plan to correct the deficiencies that was accepted by CFIA.

Since CFIA launched its in-depth investigation Sept. 4, the agency has issued six CARS (about plant sanitation and maintenance). All are still open.

A CAR is the primary tool used by CFIA to compel companies to fix problems within a specific time frame.

Based on its probe, the agency said Friday a combination of “several deficiencies” at the plant played a role in the E. coli contamination, which has been linked to four illnesses in Edmonton.

For example, a trend analysis about positive E. coli tests was not always conducted consistently at the facility. CFIA also noted “deviations” from the company’s E. coli control measures and sampling and testing procedures.