As we continue to grow and learn in the blogosphere we decided to refresh the blog and add some new features and hopefully a better user experience. For example you will notice on your right a new polling feature where we ask you for your opinion on a particular topic related to food safety. If you have any ideas of poll questions please send them our way.
Take a look around we welcome your feedback, advice or tips.
Thanks for your note. The point you made is a valid one however in fact, both...
by Editor on July 20, 2010
congratulations & best wishes. Hope to see similar innovation in the new...
by Garry on July 19, 2010
ALLERGY ALERT – UNDECLARED MILK IN VARIOUS BRANDS OF MAPLE LEAF GARLIC SAUSAGE
August 11, 2010 by Editor
New Government Rules for Combating Listeria
July 21, 2010 by Dr. Randy Huffman
2009-08-04 19:21:31 by rhuffman
2009-03-25 08:50:40 by mmccain
2009-07-31 10:09:00 by Editor
action plan CFIA chicken Chief Food Safety Officer Cloth bags committee contamination customers Education emerging technologies FDA Food recall food safety food safety Foodtrack government hearings HHP Influenza ingredients leadership listeria Maple Leaf maple leaf foods Michael McCain North American flu peanut pistachio Pork progress protocols Randy Huffman recall sanitization Sharon Beals Simply Fresh Simply Savor spinach Swine flu Technology Tips tomatoes UHP USDA Weatherill
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Dear Maple Leaf foods/Michael McCain,
I just heard your One-n-One interview with Peter Mansbridge (I’ve also heard you on radio…often), and you are impressive. For “business” to admit culpability in an incident like your company experienced is unprecedented, in my view. Particularly when the customary approach is to deny, deny, deny, and wait for an adjudication by the courts. (The aggrieved can wait…) I congratulate you sincerely, and I will seek out your product whenever I can. What an awesome example for everyone else to aspire to!!!
Thank you for your kind words we greatly appreciate your support.
Hello; Regarding Top Dogs, just read where Rachel Douglas (MLF) is quoted ” to improve flavour and taste. The new formulation now contains wheat gluten…”.
As we have a celiac (gluten intolerant) person in the family, we will no longer be buying Top Dogs hot dogs. While they are good, the addition of wheat will make them prohibited.
Suggest you are missing a market of gluten free foods.
Thanks/R
Thank you for your comment Mr. Clark. Although Top Dogs were not a gluten-free certified product when the formulation changed we felt it was important to communicate to the Celiac community to make consumers aware.
I looked on your website for any news of the recall issued today for hotdogs from your hamilton plant, but could not find anything. Am i not searching in the right place or is it not posted? As a consumer, it’s more worrisome that i can’t find out if the hotdogs i purchased are recalled than finding out that they were.
thanks.
Mike -
The recall information is posted on our website http://www.mapleleaf.com where a pop-up box opens immediately on the landing page of the site. The press release with all the product details can be found here. The consumer affairs department is available 24 hours a day if you have any further questions 1-800-268-3708.
I can’t believe it has happened again the Listeria. I have given the hot dogs to my small kids as many parents have done. I thought that your company would have made sure that your safety testing and santiation programs would be working. Also, on your website there is NO RECALL INFORMATION that I could locate. My faith in the company has vanished.
Thank you for sharing your point of view and concerns. The recall information is posted on our website http://www.mapleleaf.com where a pop-up box opens immediately on the landing page of the site. The press release with all the product details can be found here.. The consumer affairs department is available 24 hours a day if you have any further questions 1-800-268-3708
I appreciate the enhanced testing methods that Maple Leaf is using to ensure Food Safety. Your excellent diligence is what encourages me to continue to buy Maple Leaf Foods products, despite the unfortunate episode last summer. I am convinced that your company examined the situation closely, rather than hushing it up, took responsible steps to fully inform the public and the government, and thoroughly learned the lesson to be gleaned from that tragedy. That is a behaviour that earns my respect for your company and loyalty to your products.
Thank-you
Rob-
Thank you for your comments. We will continue to be overly-cautious and put food safety first when it comes to our consumers, your support is greatly appreciated.
I gave top dogs , with effected dates at my 3 year old birthday party to my children and others , I am so so upset
I understand your concern and why you are upset. Thought it may be helpful to share some key facts with you. Firstly, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency advised that the risk of getting sick even after eating product containing small levels of Listeria for most people is very low. Secondly, thoroughly cooking food to 165ºF/74ºC will kill bacteria, such as Listeria – so you would have had to serve the hot dogs raw to pose any food safety concern. Thirdly, according to Dr. Bob Bortulussi, a professor of Paediatrics and Microbiology at Dalhousie University and a Pediatric Infectious Disease consultant at the IWK Health Centre in Halifax, children are not a high risk group for contracting listeriosis. Lastly, the Public Health Agency of Canada advised that there have been no confirmed cases of listeriosis related to consumption of these hot dogs. I hope these facts may put your concerns at ease and offer you some reassurance.
Dear Mr McCain: I know someone who worked in sanitation in one of the plants, so I do have first hand knowledge as to some of the problems that exist from the workers perspective. While policy is written to try and cover all possiblities, the fact remains that if your management does not address problems or tries to sweep them under the carpet so to speak, what does that say? Workers are the backbone of any company and to limit their voices is not always the best possible solution. A good leader brings unity, sometimes they have to stand up and debate an issue. Just because one has position of authority, does not necessarily mean they are good leaders and those bad leaders who fail to address issues will cost your company more money in the end. A worker in sanitation, who always passed inspection was affected by the chemicals, an occupational disease. It would seem that from a Health and Safety perspective, that it is the PPE covering the workers that is ineffective. An easy solution would be to ensure that the PPE covers the workers so that there is no contact of water/chemicals to the skin period. In ignoring this simple solution, it just costs your company more money in the end in terms of lost training, production, grievance and arbitration. While there will always be opposition between the two sides, labour vs management, in the end, if your human resource manager keeps sweeping the problem under the carpet, ignoring the voices of the worker, what does that say about you, as an individual, the leader of the company, in the end. There are rules and regulations, proper processes and it says something, when your management employee ignores legislated law because they are in a authoritative position to do so. It is always a balancing act, weighing cost, risk and benefits. I do hope that my words will bring some attention to this issue so that the company and the workers can work work together for the benefit of all. Thank you for listening.
You will get no argument from me in the value of our employees at Maple Leaf Foods. Every worker deserves a safe workplace and an expectation that they will return home at the end of each and every shift without injury. We have taken many steps to create a workplace culture where eliminating workplace injuries and keeping our people safe is embedded in everything we do, which includes placing a high value on training, with a particular focus on occupational health and safety and ensuring our people are provided with the proper personal protective equipment to provide them with the full protection required for them to do their jobs safely. We look out for our people, and they in turn look out for themselves but also the safety of their fellow workers. Working together we’ve achieved a strong record of performance but that does not mean there is no room to improve. We track and communicate safety records across our 100-plus facilities with a strong believe that transparency will drive better performance. In fact, workplace safety performance is tied into compensation of our plant management and our Board of Directors has an Environment Health & Safety Committee that monitors performance closely and ensures that we continue to raise the bar.
Wayne Johnson, Chief Human Resources Officer
I just did the poll on your blog.
Do you consider food safety when purchasing a product?
I think this is kind of an odd question. I answered NO, but not because I’m not concerned about food safety– I answered NO because I don’t ‘consider’ it when I’m purchasing a product. I assume that the billions of dollars worth of liability AND the tax dollars of a myriad of levels of government inspection AND the statistical likelihood of having something go wrong– are all in my favour, and I assume a product is going to be just fine.
So to answer your question, No I don’t consider it. It’s been assumed.
Have you heard about Listex? This is a process aid based on bacteriophages that targets Listeria. It has been developed by EBI Foodsafety in Wageningen, The Netherlands. http://www.ebifoodsafety.com
Perhaps this is something that you might try.
Hi Martin-
Thanks for sharing this information. I became familiar with this organization during my time at the American Meat Institute Foundation when they were looking to bring their technology to the U.S. While it is widely used in Europe and has been approved in the U.S., to my knowledge it has not yet been approved for use in Canada. We have a very deep and keen interest in any kind of innovations and technology that will make our food safer and continue to monitor this and other developments closely.
Randy
I as wondering how Maple Leaf disposed of the fat, grease, and waste products associated with operating a meat processing facility. I was wondering if these bi-products are recycled for biodiesel use?
Glenn-
Maple Leaf is the proud owner of Rothsay Canada’s largest recycler of animal by-products into value-added products including animal feeds, amino acid supplements and other industrial uses.