Our Journey to Food Safety Leadership | Our Journey to Food Safety Leadership

This is an important day for us at Maple Leaf Foods.  We are making a public pledge to Canadians about what we promise to do about food safety, both in our products and across the industry.  This flows from the very deep commitment we made following the listeriosis outbreak of August 2008 that resulted in the death of 23 Canadians.

In the wake of this tragedy, I made some solemn undertakings on behalf of Maple Leaf Foods to the people of this country about our determination to do everything in our power to prevent an outbreak like this from ever happening again.  I meant that then, and I mean it now as much as ever.

We have spent the last 18 months seeking the advice of the best experts in the world (and in many cases hiring them), examined every one of our previous practices, made significant improvements in all areas of food safety - testing, training and sanitization - and worked with industry and government to raise the bar. We’ve also reached out to Canadians in many ways to hear from you what your concerns are and what you expect.

Our Maple Leaf Food Safety Pledge is the embodiment of these efforts.  It is our public commitment to you about what you can expect from us and what we expect of ourselves.  It is the expression of our commitment to be second to none in the area of food safety.  It is an expression of our determination to be improving all the time. We hold ourselves, and you should hold us, accountable against these standards.

Please take the time to read the Food Safety Pledge.  We welcome your feedback and comments. I also encourage you to return to this blog and participate in what I hope will become a lively and informative source of discussion about food safety and health issues.

On behalf of the 23,500 employees of Maple Leaf Foods, we are grateful for the trust and confidence Canadians have placed in us.  We remain committed to earning your trust each and every day.

At Maple Leaf, our commitment is to do everything we can to make our products safe for consumers. Just as we take precautions to ensure our products are safe, we encourage you to do the same when preparing, cooking, and storing food.  In keeping with our mandate of becoming a leader in food safety education, we have launched a new website to help consumers understand the important role of food safety at Maple Leaf and in your homes.

Aside from information on what we do to manage food safety, you can surf the new site for information on food safety in the home, including a virtual tool demonstrating food safety in the kitchen, proper cooking temperatures, tips and a food safety quiz. 

We hope you will visit and welcome your feedback on the new site.

The Parliamentary sub-committee on Food Safety released its final report today. Maple Leaf welcomed the opportunity to participate in the investigation.  My own testimony spoke to the need we saw for a much stronger set of regulatory requirements, especially in the area of testing, and resources such as the number of CFIA inspectors. 

The final outcome is a comprehensive report that has important implications for strengthening the food safety system in Canada and builds on the stringent new Listeria policy introduced in April this year which we believe makes for a safer system.  The report also provides clear direction for further improvement. 

In terms of key recommendations and improvements, Maple Leaf reinforces the following:

•          We continue to believe that the patchwork of existing regulatory regimes be pulled together as one national standard.  Consumers shouldn’t need to worry about whether the food they purchase is made in a federally or provincially regulated plant or imported from other countries. All food for sale in Canada should meet a consistent and enforced standard.

•          Maple Leaf supports the call for a comprehensive review of CFIA resources, recognizing that there must be sufficient inspectors to ensure compliance with tough new standards with the necessary training to conduct sophisticated root cause analysis of test results to identify potential risks.

•          Maple Leaf continues to advocate for any changes that result in faster identification of proven food safety risk, whether through increased inter-governmental and agency coordination or through accelerated testing and expansion of laboratory capacity.

There will continue to be global advancements in food safety knowledge and technology and it is our promise to learn from these and implement ongoing improvements. We will also be strong advocates for food safety with industry and government, sharing what we know and pushing to raise the bar to protect consumers. After the tragedy of last August, which resulted in the death of 22 Canadians, it is our responsibility to be a leader in food safety; a responsibility we take extremely seriously.