There is no reason the XL Foods plant at the centre of the largest E. coli recall in Canada can’t produce safe food, said the president of the company taking over management of the plant.
Bill Rupp, president of JBS USA, said his staff has scoured the plant from top to bottom and doesn’t believe it needs a major food safety overhaul before it opens for business on Monday.
“I don’t think it needs anything before it operates. This plant is very capable of producing a food-safe product,” Rupp said in a news conference held today in Brooks, Alta.
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“It’s a good clean facility. We just need to operate it.… We have found no shortcomings with this facility.”
Instead, the American company intents to implement the same food safety plan it has in place in its eight U.S. plants.
“We’re confident we can run a food safe operation with our process,” said Rupp, who worked for Cargill for 27 years and spent two years in Canada helping build Cargill’s beef processing plant in High River, Alta.
JBS officials have spent the week in Canada meeting with government, cattle and Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials about their plans for the plant and how they plan to ensure another E. coli disaster doesn’t happen.
“We believe in our food safety process,” said Rupp.
On Monday, the plant and its food safety plan will be subject to an independent audit by the International HACCP alliance.
CCA vice-president Dave Solverson said the management takeover of the XL plant by JBS officials is a positive move, especially with its global marketing power.
“We’re encouraged and excited, the fact JBS is such a global marketer,” said Solverson.
Rupp said the company plans to first get the plant up and running and then shift its focus to the due diligence needed to complete acquisition of the plant. The agreement gives JBS an exclusive option to buy various XL Foods holdings for $50 million in cash and $50 million in JBS shares.
Also key to the plant’s success is communication with employees, the union, government and CFIA officials.
As part of the conditions for allowing the plant to reopen, the CFIA put in place a series of strict conditions to ensure safe food leaves the plant. Rupp said there was nothing in the conditions that concerned the company.
As part of the start-up process, the plant will operate at a slower speed and ensure employees know what to do to work safely and produce safe food.
