XL Foods Inc. of Edmonton has dropped its attempt to stop the Canadian Food Inspection Agency from publishing the results of an August 2003 inspection of its plant in Calgary, a report that listed seven problems in the plant, most of them described as major.
The August 2003 inspection was an audit to determine company compliance with new regulations requiring risky material to be removed from older carcasses to reduce the chance of BSE contamination in meat products.
The company, in a statement attached to the report and released by CFIA, insisted the report was exaggerated and out of context.
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XL dropped its court action in return for the inclusion of the explanatory statement in the file.
“The report did not accurately reflect the fact that at all times XL maintained a system of tracking cattle and carcasses that met all written CFIA policies and procedures at the time,” said the company statement.
“In fact, XL maintained 100 percent identification and traceability of all carcasses in the plant.”
After an access-to-information request, CFIA decided to release reports from all plant inspections that month, but XL objected. No other company objected and their reports were released without much fanfare. XL’s court case to block release of its report drew more attention.
The violations reported at the XL plant, according to the document released Oct. 21, ranged from older cattle not “adequately identified to maintain ID” to roofs and walls needing refurbishing and rusty trailer overheads.
The XL explanatory statement said CFIA rules in the summer of 2003 were fluid and changing, and the report led to some changes at the plant.
“Upon completion of the August 2003 audit, XL was informed that additional identification could be considered and we immediately implemented this additional measure to complement our existing tracing procedures,” said the statement under the signature of co-president Brian Nilsson.
