Agriculture minister Gerry Ritz has appointed an expert advisory panel to study and report on the XL Foods E. coli contamination that led to the largest meat recall in Canadian history.
He promised late Feb. 8 that once the panel reports with recommendations, Ottawa will make the report public.
He said in a statement released in Ottawa that the panel has been asked to make recommendations for improvement in process “within the existing resources of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.”
The panel will be led by Dr. Ronald Lewis, former chief veterinary officer for British Columbia. Other members are André Corriveau, chief public health officer for the Northwest Territories, and former food industry executive and consultant Ronald Usborne.
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Ritz did not indicate when the panel must report.
His announcement, promised since the XL Foods food safety incident last autumn, came on a day when opposition MPs in the House of Commons argued that the food recall last autumn cost CFIA and taxpayers $2 million in staff overtime and travel.
They used daily question period to blame CFIA cuts for the fact the E. coli contamination was able to happen and make it into the food chain.
