Shocked no one has posted this.
http://www.canada.com/globaltv/bc/st...1-fbcf63344161
Maple Leaf recalls meat, shuts plant
Ontario confirms two dead, dozens sick from bacteria
Linda Nguyen, Tiffany Crawford, and Becky Rynor, with files from Allison Cross
Canwest News Service and Vancouver Sun
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
CREDIT: Darren Stone/Victoria Times Colonist
23 ready-to-eat deli meats were recalled. The suspect products produced at Maple Leaf's Toronto plant since June 2 and were distributed to fast-food restaurants, institutions, nursing homes, hospitals and supermarket delis across Canada.
Two northern B.C. residents are sick as a result of eating meat contaminated with the potentially deadly bacterium listeria monocytogenes, a doctor from the B.C. Centre for Disease Control confirmed on Wednesday.
The confirmation comes as a spreading outbreak of the bacteria has left two people dead and dozens more sick across Canada.
The illnesses are suspected to be linked to ready-to-eat deli meats produced at Maple Leaf Consumer Food's Toronto plant since June 2 and distributed to fast-food restaurants, institutions, nursing homes, hospitals and supermarket delis across Canada.
A majority of those who got sick are believed to have eaten the same food in nursing homes and hospitals in July, the Public Health Agency of Canada said. The average age of the sick is 65.
The products have been recalled and Maple Leaf Consumer Foods, which this week issued a nationwide recall of tainted packaged meat products, launched special sanitation procedures at its Toronto meat processing plant Thursday.
Crews will be sanitizing two processing lines that were used to make deli meats that have tested positive for low levels of the potentially deadly bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.
The recall, which began Sunday in conjunction with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, initially only included two varieties of packaged meat after some of the products tested positive for low levels of the bacteria found in the environment.
On Wednesday, the meat recall was expanded to include 23 ready-to-eat deli meats.
Sonya Kruger, a spokeswoman for the Northern Health Authority, said the B.C. patients confirmed to have been affected by the meat were already in hospital when they fell ill. One of the patients lives in Prince George and the other in Fort St. John, and they were in different hospitals when the illness hit.
Three other suspected cases in B.C. are under investigation.
So far, there is no evidence of a link between the deaths in Ontario and the meat recall, other than they both involve the same bacteria.
In confirming the connection between the recalled meat and the illnesses in B.C., Dr. Eleni Galanis, with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, said: "First, [the B.C. residents] have the same strain as the outbreak strain that has been identified in Ontario and second they have been exposed to the foods that are under recall."
She said the B.C. patients are still undergoing treatment. "They are adults, not elderly, but they both have underlying conditions that put them at higher risk."
The patients got sick in June and July, Galanis said, but she was not able to say whether they are still in hospital.
B.C. sees about 10 to 12 listeria cases every year, she said.
Galanis said it is likely the recalled products have been distributed throughout B.C. and the Centre for Disease Control is working with the food inspection agency to ensure all customers of Maple Leaf are made aware of the recall.
Restaurants, grocery stores, nursing homes and other possible consumers of the products will be phoned or visited to ensure the meat is out of their meals and off their shelves, she said.
"This is a very high-profile recall with a high-profile company," Galanis said. "We have every confidence their communication channels are working. "The average consumer ... can check in their fridges for the recalled meat, which they can return to stores or just discard," she said.
Some deli meats are repackaged at the grocery store and won't bear the brand name, she said, so consumers should call the store or simply throw the meat in the garbage.
There have been 29 cases across Canada associated with the outbreak in 17 health units. Of these, 13 are confirmed cases, and the rest are probable and suspect cases under investigation by local health units.
A second listeriosis-linked death has been confirmed in Ontario by the Waterloo Public Health authority.
The health authority said that they had confirmed that the bacteria was the primary cause in the death of an elderly woman.
An earlier death was confirmed in Hamilton, Ont., Thursday of another elderly woman.
Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health advised the public that there is an outbreak of Listeriosis in the province.
Listeriosis is a severe but rare infection caused by consumption of the bacteria Listeria monocytogenes from contaminated foods.
There are 30 probable cases of a deadly listeriosis outbreak in Ontario and more are expected, according to Dr. David Williams, Ontario's acting chief medical officer of health.
Williams warned residents to be vigilant about what meat they consume.
"I strongly advise the public, especially those at high risk for listeriosis, such as the elderly, pregnant women and those with weak immune systems, to make sure they avoid consuming these products," said Williams, referring to the recalled meat.
The public is being warned not to eat sliced turkey breast at McDonald's, seasoned cooked roast beef at Mr. Sub sandwich shops, certain lots of Sure Slice brand roast beef and corned beef, and a variety of other products, including Schneiders smoked honey ham, corned beef, smoked meat and Bavarian meats.
Mark Nesbitt, spokesman for Ontario Health, said officials were contacting all long-term care homes and hospitals to confirm they are aware of the recall.
"There hasn't been any confirmation and the testing is ongoing. It's quite difficult because listeria has an incubation period between two and 30 days and it has been up to 90 days," he said.
"We're all jumping in and trying to get to the bottom of it. [The investigation] is very complex and involved and it takes lot of old-fashioned detective work."
Maple Leaf said it shut its plant so all food-safety procedures can be reviewed.
Louis Payette, a spokeswoman for McDonald's said the restaurant chain has stopped selling its turkey BLT sandwich, the only menu item affected by the recall.
With files from Allison Cross, Vancouver Sun and Linda Nguyen, Tiffany Crawford, Becky Rynor, Canwest News Service
© Vancouver Sun 2008
Listing of products recalled.
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/CFIA_alert.html
luckily I saw this when I did cause I had purchased some of the recalled meat but thankfully haven't opened it yet. Yesterday would've been my first use of the meat but luckily I had seen the story on the news
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