People are concerned about the massive recall of beef products processed by XL Foods in Brooks, Alberta.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) shut the plant down on Sept. 27 when it was confirmed some products contained e. Coli.
People across the country had become ill by consuming contaminated meat, and it was traced back to the Alberta processing plant.
This single processing plant supplies as much as 35 per cent of the beef products in Canada, and also ships meat to the United States.
Both Canada Safeway and Overwaitea Food Group are supplied product by XL Foods.
While both parent companies state they were impacted by the recall, spokespersons said they were successful in removing “potentially impacted products” from their shelves and replacing it with unaffected product.
XL Foods has been given a limited opening so CFIA inspectors can ensure the processing problem has been corrected, and they will continue stringent inspections until they are positive beef is being processed safely before giving the green light to a full opening.
Canadian consumers were fortunate nobody became fatally ill from consuming tainted meat.
The positive side of the massive recall is it received a lot of attention from the public because most of us consume red meat and we paused to consider what we were eating.
It also gave health officials an opportunity to remind us about the hazards of cross-contamination in our homes through improper storage and under cooking red meat.
The recall also makes a case for area residents who are very concerned about food security and the importance of consuming products that are raised, slaughtered and processed in our region.
Ever since small abattoirs throughout the province have shut down because of stricter slaughterhouse regulations, specifically in the area of inspection, smaller meat producers have been looking to increase local slaughter capacity.
It would be more economical for the producers and local consumers would know how the animals were raised and how they were being processed.
Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Donna Barnett has been working with Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick to see if smaller slaughter facilities can get new licences so they can reopen.
That would provide a boost to the cattle industry and give consumers some choices.
