CFIA recalls 400 products | E. coli from Alberta plant found in beef products across Canada, U.S.
Uncertainty is overshadowing beef markets with the temporary closure of one of Canada’s major meat processing plants.
A backlog of cattle awaited slaughter and markets turned bearish after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency pulled XL Foods’ licence and closed the plant Sept. 27 following the discovery of E. coli O157:H7 in various products.
The list of recalled products numbers around 400 and affects retail outlets in Canada and the United States. The list includes prepared burgers, meat loaf, fresh ground beef and most recently, whole muscle cuts.
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Alberta premier Alison Redford and agriculture minister Verlyn Olson said Sept. 30 they are talking with the CFIA to see when the plant might reopen.
“Our priority is to do everything we possibly can to assure that we are working with CFIA and minister (Gerry) Ritz and with XL Foods to reopen that plant as soon as possible,” Redford said at a news conference in Calgary.
“We are pressing everybody involved to make it the top priority so XL can comply with regulations so we can get the plant back working and get all those employees back to work and give producers a place to deliver their product,” she said.
Olson said CFIA investigators are also using provincial laboratories for additional testing.
“The capacity of testing has been ramped up considerably. That is to expedite the process so we can get the plant open as soon as possible,” he said.
In the meantime, feeder cattle are coming off pasture and moving to market while feedlots must find other plants to accept their finished cattle. Consequently, prices are starting to drop.
“There will be increased interest from American packers because of the situation, and it will lead to higher exports of fed cattle,” said Dave Solverson, vice-president of the Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and a rancher from Camrose.
“We sell at a discount to the U.S. already, and it’s quite likely to increase.”
Feedlots have room to accept new cattle, but the uncertainty of when finished cattle can move is affecting the entire supply chain, he said.
“The urgency today is with the fed cattle, but the urgency in the coming weeks could quickly shift to the whole industry,” he said.
“It is only a matter of days before it could be a crisis.”
Cattle that should have been killed the week the plant closed were pushed back, although the amount of fat cattle offered for sale in the past week was not large.
Alberta Beef Producers chair Doug Sawyer said price reports are variable on yearlings and cows.
“I have been watching the yearling calf market because I’ve got to market some animals and it has been a bit sketchy. It has been hit and miss,” he said.
Canfax reported that the weighted average steer price was $2 per hundredweight lower for the week ending Sept. 28 than the previous week. Many feedlots did not sell in hopes prices would improve.
Last week’s cash to futures basis closed the week at -14.60.
