One Year Ago
August 24th, 2009 by Michael McCainIt was a year ago on August 23, 2008 that some of our products were linked to the death of 22 Canadians and made many others very ill.
This tragedy was a turning point in our history. It’s very important that we always remember the impact of what happened on the people affected and their families and friends, and what that meant for us as the company responsible.
We make food to feed thousands of people every day and that places an enormous trust upon us. We thought we had very good food safety practices before this tragedy. We thought we were doing the right thing by going way beyond government requirements of us. Clearly we were not doing enough, and our failure had terrible consequences.
We have gone to great lengths over the past year to address gaps in our food safety system and progress well down the path of true leadership in this area. We have step changed our food safety program, from testing to sanitation to incorporating new technologies like Ultra High Pressure and antimicrobial ingredients. We have a level of food safety vigilance that is demonstrating excellent results, even in the face of imperfection. It involves people at all levels in the organization each and every day. And we have detailed the further actions required to move from best in Canada to global leadership.
Today we are a significantly stronger company. We have a deeply rooted commitment to excellence in food safety - it is what we must do to honour the lives lost and people affected by the tragedy of last year. It is never easy being a leader…the two subsequent recalls we have had this year in our packaged meats business have proven that. No matter what we do, we will never be perfect; nor is anyone else. But holding ourselves to a higher standard means we will act more quickly and more assertively when there is a potential food safety concern - even a small one.
We are not going to deviate from this commitment to excellence. My greatest hope is that we will be known as the company that remembered history and learned from it, and as a result sets the gold standard in food safety.
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I continue to be impressed by your efforts!
Give me a break! You are the ultimate propaganda machine!
Joe,
I would be very interested in understanding why you feel this way?
Michael McCain
Hi, I am the Mother of two young children who LOVE a good hot dog from time to time. I have to be honest, my first reaction after the recall was to ban processed foods from our home. But, after listening to your commitment to consumers as well as your continued commitment to product safety, I trust Maple Leaf products even MORE. I will search out your products knowing the high standards you have set. I am convinced that if more companies followed the same rigorous testing procedures as your company there would be more of THEIR products on the recall list. I will continue to do MY part and practice safe handling and cooking techniques to also reduce the risk. I know you will continue to do your part and keep us apprised if anything changes. So, it is with continued faith in your company and it’s products that I granted the request from my little girls to have hot dogs for lunch!!!
Debbie-
Thank you for your kind words of support. I am deeply grateful for your vote of confidence, everyone at Maple Leaf is working hard to produce the safest food possible.
Regards,
Michael McCain
I’m finding the comments made by Mr. McCain and Maple Leaf employees regarding food safety extremely hard to believe. Two weeks ago I discovered that a major supermarket here in Windsor, Ontario is selling Maple Leaf frozen sausage meat with a “Best Before” date of Feb 2009! I called both the Windsor public health department and Maple Leaf’s 800 number to report this. Cutting a long story short, today I received a phone call from the public health department. It was explained to me that the best before date is only relevant to the freshness of the product, and it does not mean that the food is unsafe to eat. And this is in complete compliance with federal law. As there is no expiration date on the product, only a “best before” date, how the hell are the public supposed to know what is safe to eat? As I mentioned before, it was two weeks ago when I reported this matter to both the public health department and Maple Leaf. The product in question is still on sale at the supermarket. I just hope nobody buys it and gets seriously ill, cauing another outcry over public food safety, which in this case could easily be avoided.
I’m reluctant to let the matter drop, and am considering contacting the local press about this. If meat that is 7 months past its best before date can still be sold legally in supermarkets, then the law needs to be changed. Somebody needs to take note and get something done about the matter.
Mr. Soden-
We would like to understand the details of this situation and investigate fully. A member of our Consumer Affairs team will send you a note to follow up and hopefully address your concerns.
I don’t know abot your “gold standard” level in safety: let me tell ya you don,t get gold stndard for soaking the “Country Kitchen” hams in brime to make them heavier. Will you money grubbing dummies ever understand how to treat your customers, NO???
Thank you for this comment and for the opportunity to respond.
We follow a time honoured traditional process which necessitates the use of brine as do all hams. The brine we use is a combination of ingredients which enhances flavour, preserves, maintains moist meat and gives the ham its pleasing colour.
I would like to congratulate you on your efforts to “going way beyond government requires of us”. It seems as I consult restaurant establishments, the Canadian mindset is to do only what is required, but that does not safeguard the people of this nation nor protect their businesses from potential legal action. I agree with your earlier statements that the Canadian Government need to be encouraged to legislate stricter guidelines and enforcement to ensure our safety. HACCP should be required at all levels of food handling, as is done in the UK, Europe and around the world, to not only include manufacturers but retailers, grocers and restaurants.
My condolences to the families involved in this tragedy but my applause to you for leading the way in food hygiene in Canada.