News & Politics - Listeriosis Outbreak Causes Massive Meat Recall

**sunnykerr** · 08-25-2008, 05:06 PM

Listeriosis linked to 12 deaths: health officials

Canadian health officials now say 12 deaths have been linked to a listeriosis outbreak from a Maple Leaf Foods plant in North York, Ont.

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Health officials also said that they are dealing with 26 confirmed cases of listeriosis and are investigating another 29 suspected cases. Of the 26 confirmed cases, there have been 12 deaths --11 victims were from Ontario and the other was from British Columbia.

The B.C. death had been on a list of confirmed cases but federal health officials said it remains "controversial" and is still under investigation.

Of the 11 deaths in Ontario, listeria has been definitively linked to six of them while five cases are still under investigation to determine the extent the bacteria had on the death.

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Linda Smith, spokesperson for Maple Leafs Foods, said the company wasn't prepared to speculate on legal action but noted that the CEO of the company has said that he will do what is best for the public.

More than two-dozen sandwich varieties have been added to a long list of products recalled over fears they may be linked to contaminated meat from Maple Leaf Foods.

The sandwiches were added to the list early Monday. A statement from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Lucerne foods was recalling the 28 varieties of Safeway and TakeAwayCafe brand sandwiches.

The sandwiches are available in Alberta and Saskatchewan at Safeway and Mac's Convenience Stores and could contain deli meat from the Toronto plant identified as the source of the bacteria.

There have been no reported sickness linked to the sandwiches.

Maple Leaf expanded recall

Only a handful of products were included in the initial Maple Leaf recall. The expanded list -- described as precautionary by Maple Leaf -- now includes up to 220 products.

The company recalled all meat products that were manufactured at the Toronto facility after three people died in Ontario, and one in British Columbia. There have been at least 21 confirmed cases.

That number could still rise since the bacteria can have a lengthy incubation period, said Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. David Butler-Jones.

"Certainly that's possible," he told CTV's Canada AM.

"As a country we're still looking at relatively small numbers, but the incubation period -- the time from when you are exposed to when you get sick -- can vary from as small as three days to over two months."

Smith said if all goes as planned, the Maple Leaf Foods plant in North York, Ont. where the outbreak occurred, should reopen by Tuesday. It had been temporarily closed down to be thoroughly sanitized.

"We're going to make a determination on that later today," she told CTV Newsnet Monday. "We've got a variety of experts to look at the results and to understand those results. Then the CIFA wants to do their own inspection which we welcome. We anticipate it's tomorrow but at the same time, if we're not ready then we're not opening the plant."

Canada's public health agency said in a statement Saturday that "Results of genetic testing from three samples of the products recalled by Maple Leaf Foods show that two tested positive for the outbreak strain of listeria."

The third sample was a close match to the outbreak strain and is undergoing another test.

Patients contract listeriosis after consuming foods contaminated with listeria monocytogenes.

Public health officials have warned that food contaminated with listeria may not look or smell like it has spoiled.

Listeriosis can cause flu-like symptoms, such as a stiff neck, headache, nausea and fever.

Healthy individuals may remain symptom-free. However, pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are at greatest risk.

'Successful' handling

Smith also said that the company has been asking experts about emerging technologies to help prevent an outbreak from happening again. She said that the company has protocols in place that far exceed stringent regulatory requirements.

Ontario health officials knew about some listeria cases in July, but it was not until last week that any products were recalled.

"These products have been distributed nationally to retail stores and food service institutions such as restaurants, hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutional cafeterias or kitchens," Maple Leaf Foods said in a news release.

"These products may also be sold at deli counters. If the original product identity and best before code is not evident, consumers are advised to check with their retailer to determine if the product is included in the list of recalled products."

Despite the four deaths, Health Minister Tony Clement said authorities acted quickly to warn Canadians about the outbreak and called it a "success."

Butler-Jones agreed the handling of the outbreak has been successful so far. He said Canada has one of the safest food distribution and preparation systems in the world -- but it's not 100 per cent safe, and food poisoning and bacteria outbreaks will occur from time to time.

"Being able to recognize it and then do things to limit that impact -- that's really where the system can kick in," he said.

Maple Leaf has warned consumers not to serve or eat meat products labelled with establishment number 97B.

Customers can find the number near the "best before" label or packaged on dates.

The affected sandwiches are sold in 180-gram packages. They have best-before dates of up to and including Aug. 22 and 24. The UPC code is 7-76393017001-8.

CFIA initiated the recall because the sandwich contains sliced corned beef -- one of the deli meat products recalled by Maple Leaf Foods earlier this month.

Anyone wishing for more information from the company can call their consumer affairs hotline at 1-800-568-5801.

CTV.ca | Listeriosis linked to 12 deaths: health officials

This was all over the office when I came in this morning. It's true that, in the grand scheme of things, this doesn't seem like such an outbreak as yet... but, yeah, up to a two-month incubation period... it's a little scary.

*Ledi* · 08-27-2008, 12:19 PM

I found out about this a few days ago. It's pretty scary, actually. I threw out everything I had by this company. Better be safe than sorry.

**Mio** · 08-27-2008, 03:55 PM

My family loves to eat deli meats in their sandwiches, and given this news and with my dad just having heart surgery we are not eating any processed meats. It's scary.

**sunnykerr** · 08-27-2008, 07:01 PM

It is scary. Yesterday, they were saying six deaths. Today, it's 15. When you consider that this thing has an incubation period that can go up to three months...

sum1 · 08-27-2008, 10:14 PM

Why does this sort of thing keep happening? Companies need to be more careful with producing food items. Again and again contaminants "somehow" get into food products on a large scale. Not to mention the likes of mad cow disease, which became a problem because people were basically feeding cows to cows.

**sunnykerr** · 08-28-2008, 05:47 PM

If nothing else, they should really make sure that inspections are thorough and frequent.

**Mio** · 08-29-2008, 06:47 PM

Exactly.

I myself am not feeling well, but granted that I just ate meat with bbq sauce and it has lactose in it... that could be the reason for my yucky tummy. I am feeling warm, but it's warm outside and I have hay fever.

I shouldn't really read much into this... it has gotten everyone paranoid, including me!

**TheAngel** · 08-29-2008, 07:44 PM

I'm just not eating anymore. I'm going to go liquid...Or maybe do the Nicole Richie diet and just live off air. I mean, seriously, it seems like everything is tainted because people aren't washing their hands or their equipment, people are dropping things in, inspections aren't up to date. It's crazy. Food is supposed to keep you alive, not make you sick.

*Ledi* · 08-29-2008, 08:27 PM

My mom was telling me earlier that this was affecting other foods/products as well. I really hope that's not true.

**sunnykerr** · 08-31-2008, 05:01 PM

Well, the thing is that listeriosis is a rather common bacteria.

I have a friend who's worked in the food industry for decades now and he says that it's one of the most common ones.

Not that it makes it okay or anything. But there's clearly been a shift in the population's ability to come in contact with it and remain healthy, since it has been around for so long. We're more sensitive to it now, for some reason.

And, yeah, there's at least one cheese place (in Quebec City) that's been shut down because of listeriosis.

**hockeycanada87** · 08-31-2008, 10:00 PM

This is really scary. My family threw out all of our Maple Leaf products. My auntie is pregnant and its worse if your pregnant. She is pretty much freaking out over this.

**sunnykerr** · 09-01-2008, 06:04 PM

It's the same as the flu and all those other immune diseases. It's worse for the very young, the very old, the very ill... and, well, the pregnant.

If your auntie was following her doctor's advice, she should be fine. I have a friend who's pregnant, too, and her doctor had advised her from the getgo to avoid cold cuts. Listeriosis is always a big concern for pregnant women. Right now it just seems worse because of the outbreak, but I'm sure she was already taking the necessary precautions.