Maple Leaf’s Food Safety Strategy
September 25th, 2009 by Dr. Randy Huffman
It may be over a year since the listeriosis outbreak that resulted in the death of 22 Canadians, but it is still very much fresh in our minds. We made one big commitment and that was our goal to become a global food safety leader. We’ve put that into action over the past year and made many improvements. We’ve gone well beyond regulatory requirements in our testing to find and control listeria. We’re also implementing newer rapid-testing methods and protocols at our Hamilton Ontario plant on a pilot basis. Once th ese methods are approved by the Canadian government it will reduce the amount of time it takes to get test results from about 6 - 8 days down to two days . This will be a big improvement over the current situation and will enable faster response times for Maple Leaf, and any other food processors who choose to adopt the protocols.
It is widely accepted scientific fact that Listeria is commonly found in food processing environments. What we have learned over this year is that by aggressively implementing control procedures and new technologies in our plants we can prevent the tragedy of 2008 from ever happening again.
At our Investor Day, which was held last Monday, I laid out a comprehensive food safety strategy that will take us from where we are today to where we plan to be - a global leader - and what it will take to get there. We expect that we will invest up to $50 million over the next three years to implement this plan. Have a look a the presentation on our website and let us know if you have any questions or comments.
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In our presentations we have been stating that if there ever was a company to trust is these days of uncertainty, it would be Maple Leaf. I commend you for the extraordinary efforts to not only improve the standards of your own company but to stand as a Canadian and Global Leader in the fight against FoodBorne illnesses. I believe the Canadian Government needs to take a pro-active stance to improve regulations and set higher standards for the Canadian food industry, including after-manufacturing markets, retailers and restaurants.The HACCP program needs to be required as it has in Europe, UK and around the world.
I am so impressed with your new website, http://foodsafetyathome.ca . It comes down to the consumers to challenge themselves , food retailers and the regulators to improve standards to ensure our well-being. Again, my hats off to the management of Maple Leaf for leading the way.
Andrew-
Thanks for taking the time to send us your comments and words of support. We are very focused and committed to working with government agencies to advocate for better food safety regulations and educating consumers on foodborne illness. The CFIA recently announced an investment in Canada’s food safety system. (http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/newcom/2009/20090911e.shtml)
thats a very good step taken by CFIA, FDA should also consider this and must take immediate steps to stop the increasing number of food borne diseases.