Alberta agriculture minister Verlyn Olson attempted to shore up flagging consumer confidence in beef safety today during a news conference about the temporary closure of the XL Foods processing plant in Brooks, Alta.
“When you think about the volume of food that is produced and the volume of beef that is produced in this province, it is very impressive that we have such a great safety record,” said Olson.
“This is a very serious incident, and I would caution people against starting to think about the whole system having failed somehow.”
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Olson said deputy agriculture minister John Knapp had spoken with XL owners Brian and Lee Nilsson but did not provide details of the conversation.
The Nilssons have not commented publicly on the closure of XL, the second largest beef processing plant in Canada, after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency suspended its licence to operate.
The suspension relates to contamination of some of the plant’s beef products with E. coli 0157:H7, a bacteria that causes severe illness when consumed by people and can be fatal.
Discovery of the contamination resulted in a massive recall of more than 250 beef products from the XL plant, which extended to major grocery store chains across Canada and some in the United States.
Twenty-three grocery chains in the U.S. are now recalling meat that originated in the Alberta plant.
Four people who ate tenderized steak purchased at an Edmonton Costco store were reported to be sick. The meat is thought to have originated at the XL plant.
Tom Hesse, a union representative of UFWC local 401 that represents the Brooks XL workers, said 2,200 people are now in job limbo, uncertain when the plant will reopen and when they can return to work. The plant is Brooks’ largest employer.
The beef recall and timelines related to it were the subject of questions in Parliament yesterday. Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz defended Canada’s food safety record.
In his news conference, Olson confirmed he has spoken with Ritz and Alberta Beef Producers representatives.
“We are all on the same page. We all agree that we maintain our reputation for protecting food safety and the rest flows from that,” Olson said.
“For the time being, nobody is panicking. We just want to see this situation rectified.”
The XL closure is expected to negatively affect cattle markets, but the scope of that remains to be seen.
The CFIA said it revoked XL’s operating licence because the plant hadn’t yet taken the corrective action the CFIA considered necessary to address food safety issues.
