XL Foods beef recall expanded yet again

[Azure]

The recall list of beef products from the XL Foods plants in Brooks, Alta., has been expanded yet again.

Dozens of meat cuts and stores have been added to the list which now contains hundreds of products and stores across Canada and the United States.

The Alberta government has confirmed that five people fell ill last month from E. coli linked to steaks processed at the XL plant. And officials say one case in Newfoundland is linked to the recalled meat.

Tests are also being done to find the source of E. coli in four other cases in Alberta, 13 in Saskatchewan and one in British Columbia.

Harpreet Kochhar with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency told reporters yesterday that XL Foods had a plan in place to battle E. coli, but didn't follow or update that plan.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/...-expanded.html

I wonder what else they expect when they stuff cows into feedlots, treat them like crap, make them live in crap, and give them crap to eat.

Either way, doesn't look good for the Harper government when food inspectors didn't notice that XL Foods wasn't adhering to regulations.

[Yasa]

Man I really hate CBC comments.

[Fire]

Of course it is Harper's fault that the inspectors were not doing their jobs.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Fire

Of course it is Harper's fault that the inspectors were not doing their jobs.

In the cases of the ones that were laid off, it really is.

[Rathji]

Thinking the failure of food inspections to prevent cases of e.coli has anything to do with the party in power is showing a complete lack of understanding of how it all works.

I made a lengthy post here a week or so that explains the entire process, if someone feels the need to find it.

Bottom line is you cannot possibly check everything that goes through. Never have been able to, never will be able to. Only way to have a good chance of catching most bacteria is to use a highly effective sterilization process after a side leaves the slaughter floor.

If XL has a something in their process that isn't working well enough, then that needs to be looked at, but I am willing to bet that it isn't the case as much as a case of someone (quality control or ag-can) looking the other way for some reason (lazy, under pressure, or financial motivation)

Someone, or many someone's, need to lose their job over this, but knowing the industry, making them keep working would be a worse punishment.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by SebC

In the cases of the ones that were laid off, it really is.

Yep. Gotta call it for what it is. I'm surprised there isn't more outrage towards the government because of it. They can't possibly expect inspectors to keep up with the ever challenging job of making sure regulations are followed properly if they fire some and expect more from less.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Rathji

Thinking the failure of food inspections to prevent cases of e.coli has anything to do with the party in power is showing a complete lack of understanding of how it all works.

I made a lengthy post here a week or so that explains the entire process, if someone feels the need to find it.

Bottom line is you cannot possibly check everything that goes through. Never have been able to, never will be able to. Only way to have a good chance of catching most bacteria is to use a highly effective sterilization process after a side leaves the slaughter floor.

If XL has a something in their process that isn't working well enough, then that needs to be looked at, but I am willing to bet that it isn't the case as much as a case of someone (quality control or ag-can) looking the other way for some reason (lazy, under pressure, or financial motivation)

Someone, or many someone's, need to lose their job over this, but knowing the industry, making them keep working would be a worse punishment.

Plus it doesn't help that the animals are being fed a diet that encourages the growth of e coli in the cow's stomach.

[Rathji]

Those same animals are going to other plants, without major issue. Don't see how diet can be to blame when others are not having that problem.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by SebC

In the cases of the ones that were laid off, it really is.

The unions will always complain they are under staffed. You guys just eat it right up.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Fire

The unions will always complain they are under staffed. You guys just eat it right up.

I don't know who "you guys" is, but if you think I've got a soft spot for unions you don't know me very well.

[Super-Rye]

The government is as much to blame for this outbreak as XL is.

Thankfully my store was purged of all XL products last week...it was a long week.

[Northendzone]

Has any told Allison there is an issue with Alberta beef?

[Gundo]

I bet lots of meat packaging plants are walking a fine line no matter what people say when it come down to a balance between cleanliness and production. I used to do uniform deliveries to the Lilydale plant in Ramsay, the things I seen in that plant words can't describe. Between chickens that got loose wondering around the "kill floor" and strutting through the puddles of liquiid crap before getting caught and processed to the people walking right past the sink and decontamination stalls and sink right back into the plant....... Or my favorite watching some employees catch whole dressed chickens as they were falling off the conveyor overhead in boxes and picking the ones they missed off the floor back tossing them back onto the processing line. And that's just what I seen as a 3rd party person looking around in the 30-45 minutes a day I was there. Think of that the next time you buy that $30 tray of chicken brest at Costco.

Needless to say Lilydale Chicken is off my list of things me and my family eat.

[Gundo]

Originally Posted by SebC

I don't know who "you guys" is, but if you think I've got a soft spot for unions you don't know me very well.

Point on the doll where the Teamsters touched you Seb, it's okay.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by Gundo

Point on the doll where the Teamsters touched you Seb, it's okay.

Haha, it's more the economic BS spewed by the likes Ken Lewenza and the drain on net public benefit caused by monopolistic (or downright uneconomic) pricing, public bailouts, policy interference, sticky salaries than cause unemployment etc.

[SportsJunky]

Originally Posted by Gundo

Point on the doll where the Teamsters touched you Seb, it's okay.

That made me laugh out loud.

[Dion]

Premier slammed for 'dangerous' beef statements

On Sunday, Redford and Agriculture Minister Verlyn Olson said the province's beef was still safe to eat, statements that Mason characterized as damage control for the beef industry.

"I'm absolutely stunned that they would go in front of the media and blandly tell Albertans that meat is safe to eat when we're in the middle of the largest recall in Alberta history because the meat is contaminated," Mason said at a news conference on Monday.

"It is in my view the most foolish and irresponsible statement about food safety since 'shoot, shovel and shut-up,'" Mason added, referring to the infamous remark made by former premier Ralph Klein during the height of the BSE crisis in 2003.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...ef-safety.html

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by Dion

Premier slammed for 'dangerous' beef statements



http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmont...ef-safety.html

So he is saying that beef which has nothing to do with the recall isn't safe to eat? This is why the provincial NDP is irrelevant in Alberta

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard

So he is saying that beef which has nothing to do with the recall isn't safe to eat? This is why the provincial NDP is irrelevant in Alberta

I didn't read it that way. How can Redford say our beef is safe to eat when we are under a massive recall?

[Mean Mr. Mustard]

Originally Posted by Dion

I didn't read it that way. How can Redford say our beef is safe to eat when we are under a massive recall?

The beef that isn't being recalled is safe to eat. It is an issue to do with a meat packing plant, not the cattle in Alberta. The intestinal tract of a cow is full of all sorts of bugs that would kill you and everyone you love given the chance - it doesn't mean that the beef isn't safe to eat - the issue exists at Lakeside Packers not the ranches.