Hey dude its Jake im in your group Grabbed an article on listeria deaths see what you can do man
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is taking steps to assure the public its inspectors haven’t been shortchanging Canadian factories, as Ontario’s health officials probe five listeria deaths they say are unconnected to the growing list of product recalls from Toronto-based Siena Foods.
Fourteen Ontarians have fallen ill with listeriosis this year, two of them directly tied to pre-cooked ham and salami products found to be contaminated with the potentially deadly bacteria. Five others have died of five different strains of the bacteria.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Siena stopped production for an “intensive tear-down and sanitation” of its facilities, and shipment has been halted on all products until they can test negative for listeria.
A listeriosis outbreak tied to Maple Leaf foods killed 22 Canadians in August of 2008, prompting a scathing report by Sheila Weatherill that found a breakdown in communication and insufficient food-safety inspection procedures exacerbated the crisis.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has taken steps to address all 57 of the recommendations in Ms. Weatherill’s report. But the agency is still the hiring and training stages of adding 70 new inspectors to its roster in response to Ms. Weatherill’s report; a detailed audit of food inspectors has yet to get under way. The head of the union to which the agency’s food inspectors belong says little has changed to make a repeat of the previous listeriosis crisis any less likely.
In November, U.S. food inspection officials found Canadian inspection policies didn’t adhere to American standards in factories exporting products south of the border. The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires “inspector presence” in factories every 12 hours, far more than the minimum of weekly inspections the CFIA imposes on factories making products for Canadian consumption.
“What they’ve done is they have a requirement in the U.S. for what they call daily presence. And they’ve changed it somewhat from what they told us before.” Said CFIA national inspection manager Thomas Graham.
The CFIA has yet to finish hiring the additional 100 inspectors it needs to satisfy the U.S. requirements.
But Mr. Graham said standards for domestically producing factories are no less stringent – the same inspection activities are performed at both Canadian- and U.S.-bound factories, he said: The only difference is the frequency.
“We’re not talking about daily inspections; we’re talking about daily presence,” Mr. Graham said. “The same amount of verification or inspection activities that go on in those facilities in the United States would take place. … They’re not criticizing us on our inspection activities.”
The CFIA has recalled a total of five Siena products – salami in December and cooked ham, coppa and two varieties of prosciuttini in the past four days. Toronto Public Health inspectors have inspected close to 1,000 restaurants and small grocery stores in Toronto but have found none of the products. They aren’t searching any more.
Siena Foods recalled several products in 2007 after they were found to be contaminated with salmonella.
Merchant Law Group, which headed up a class-action suit for families affected by the 2008 listeriosis outbreak, is leading a class-action lawsuit for people who have bought the recalled Siena products, whether or not they’ve fallen ill. Tony Merchant said they have more than 100 members of the suit so far.
Hey dude its Jake im in your group Grabbed an article on listeria deaths see what you can do man
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is taking steps to assure the public its inspectors haven’t been shortchanging Canadian factories, as Ontario’s health officials probe five listeria deaths they say are unconnected to the growing list of product recalls from Toronto-based Siena Foods.Fourteen Ontarians have fallen ill with listeriosis this year, two of them directly tied to pre-cooked ham and salami products found to be contaminated with the potentially deadly bacteria. Five others have died of five different strains of the bacteria.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Siena stopped production for an “intensive tear-down and sanitation” of its facilities, and shipment has been halted on all products until they can test negative for listeria.
A listeriosis outbreak tied to Maple Leaf foods killed 22 Canadians in August of 2008, prompting a scathing report by Sheila Weatherill that found a breakdown in communication and insufficient food-safety inspection procedures exacerbated the crisis.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has taken steps to address all 57 of the recommendations in Ms. Weatherill’s report. But the agency is still the hiring and training stages of adding 70 new inspectors to its roster in response to Ms. Weatherill’s report; a detailed audit of food inspectors has yet to get under way. The head of the union to which the agency’s food inspectors belong says little has changed to make a repeat of the previous listeriosis crisis any less likely.
In November, U.S. food inspection officials found Canadian inspection policies didn’t adhere to American standards in factories exporting products south of the border. The U.S. Department of Agriculture requires “inspector presence” in factories every 12 hours, far more than the minimum of weekly inspections the CFIA imposes on factories making products for Canadian consumption.
“What they’ve done is they have a requirement in the U.S. for what they call daily presence. And they’ve changed it somewhat from what they told us before.” Said CFIA national inspection manager Thomas Graham.
The CFIA has yet to finish hiring the additional 100 inspectors it needs to satisfy the U.S. requirements.
But Mr. Graham said standards for domestically producing factories are no less stringent – the same inspection activities are performed at both Canadian- and U.S.-bound factories, he said: The only difference is the frequency.
“We’re not talking about daily inspections; we’re talking about daily presence,” Mr. Graham said. “The same amount of verification or inspection activities that go on in those facilities in the United States would take place. … They’re not criticizing us on our inspection activities.”
The CFIA has recalled a total of five Siena products – salami in December and cooked ham, coppa and two varieties of prosciuttini in the past four days. Toronto Public Health inspectors have inspected close to 1,000 restaurants and small grocery stores in Toronto but have found none of the products. They aren’t searching any more.
Siena Foods recalled several products in 2007 after they were found to be contaminated with salmonella.
Merchant Law Group, which headed up a class-action suit for families affected by the 2008 listeriosis outbreak, is leading a class-action lawsuit for people who have bought the recalled Siena products, whether or not they’ve fallen ill. Tony Merchant said they have more than 100 members of the suit so far.