Listeria Lawyer & Attorney : Marler Clark Law Firm : Listeria Blog

 Ever since the Maple Leaf listeria outbreak that killed 21 in Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has sure been on the case. We have two more listeria-related recall alerts from north of the border.  Both involve Piller.  The first was issued on Monday of this week, and the second yesterday.

Here's the official poop:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Piller Sausages and Delicatessens Ltd. are warning the public not to consume Piller’s brand Maple Flavoured Smoked Ham and Hickory Smoked Turkey Bacon described below because these products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The following Piller’s brand meat products are affected by this alert.

These products have been distributed in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.

And then it was expanded to include this one:

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume Piller's taste Better than Bacon Maple Flavoured Smoked Ham and Lean'n' Tasty Smoked Ham Maple Flavour Bacon Style Slices described below because these products may be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes.

The following meat products are affected by this alert.

The affected products may have been distributed nationally in Canada.

 No illnesses are yet associated with either recall.

Canada's Food Inspection Agency warns:

Food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes may not look or smell spoiled. Consumption of food contaminated with these bacteria may cause listeriosis, a foodborne illness. Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems are particularly at risk. Infected pregnant women may experience only a mild, flu-like illness, however, infections during pregnancy can lead to premature delivery, infection of the newborn, or even stillbirth.

The Canadian Press has a story here.

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Reading, MI-based Torres Hillsdale Country Cheese has been recalling its various cheeses since last month. It has now put out another request for return of it Oaxaca soft Mexican-style cheese due to potential Listeria monocytogenes contamination.

The cheese was distributed in Illinois and Minnesota.

The recalled Oaxaca cheese product was distributed to retails stores and delis in 10 pound balls, labeled with the name “Torres Hillsdale Country Cheese LLC”

The recall encompasses production dates 3/17/2009, with an expiration date of 5/20/2009.

The Michigan company's recalled cheese has not yet resulted in any illnesses.

Consumption of food contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes can cause Listeriosis, an uncommon but potentially fatal disease. Listeriosis can cause high fever, severe headache, neck stiffness and nausea. Listeriosis can also cause miscarriages and stillbirths. The very young, the pregnant, the elderly and persons with compromised immune systems are the most susceptible to infection. People experiencing these problems should seek immediate medical attention.

Consumers and retailers are urged to return all unused recalled product to the manufacturer.  Questions may be directed to: Salvador Torres, Manager, Torres Hillsdale Country Cheese LLC at 517-368-5990.

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We love Canada and the UK. After every major outbreak, there is always some high level inquiry or royal commission to hear from. This time, its Dr. David Williams, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health, making the report on the listeria outbreak blamed on the meat cutting machinery at Maple Leaf Foods Toronto plant.

Dr. Williams paints Canada's top medical officer as being such a weak link in the chain that Maple Leaf Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Michael McCain had to pick up the slack in managing the  outbreak that eventually spanned Canada and killed 21 people.

Canada's newspaper of record, The Globe & Mail, summed it up this way:

The report, released just before public hearings begin on Monday in Ottawa into food safety, singles out the Public Health Agency of Canada for not playing a leadership role in an outbreak that spread to seven provinces, leaving 56 mostly-elderly individuals sick and 21 dead. Ontario was hardest hit, with 16 of the deaths, and most of the victims were in long-term care homes or in hospitals before becoming ill.

The report predicts more outbreaks in the future. “Cross-jurisdictional outbreaks, such as the listeriosis outbreak lat year, are likely to become more common because of the trend to large-scale food manufacturing and processing,” Dr. Williams said.

For more on the report and the hearings coming up on Monday in Canada, go here.

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Here's another listeria-related recall of sprouts just in from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Amalgamated Produce, Inc. (API), Bridgeport, CT, announced a voluntary recall today of its Specialty Farms, Vermont Sprout House, Nature’s Promise and BroccoSprouts (noted as distributed by API, Bridgeport, CT) sprout items with sell by date codes of March 31 through April 27, 2009.

These sprouts are being recalled because they may have the potential to be contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes (Lm). Lm is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women.

There have been no cases of Listeriosis reported to date in connection with these products and API is issuing this recall as a precaution.

Amalgamated Produce, Inc. voluntarily recalled these sprouts after laboratory analysis in a finished product sample collected by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets tested positive.

The following describes the products that are being recalled. All these products have a sell by date code from March 31 through April 27, 2009. All these items are net weight 4 ounces, with the noted exception of Nature’s Promise Organic Alfalfa 8 ounce.

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today warned consumers not to eat Strubs Norwegian Style Sliced Smoked Steelhead Salmon in 300 gram packages because of potential contamination with the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes.

Listeria  monocytogenes is a foodborne pathogen that can cause serious illness and death.

Distributed by West Side Foods Inc. of Bronx, N.Y., the smoked steelhead salmon was imported from Canada, and 13 cartons were sold to three kosher retail stores in New York and Maryland.

The Strubs brand Norwegian Style Sliced Smoked Steelhead Salmon was distributed in cartons containing vacuum-packed 300 gram packages bearing UPC code 0 71217 69997 4, registration number “0609”, and stickers with a code date of 03MA09. There is no production date on the individual packages. There are 24 individual-300 gram packages per carton.

The FDA urges consumers who have purchased the Strubs product to dispose of the product in a safe manner and wash their hands thoroughly after handling the product.

The contamination was discovered by the FDA and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency during routine testing.

Listeriosis, the illness caused by L. monocytogenes, can be serious and sometimes cause fatal infections in young children, frail, or older people, and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may experience only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths.

No illnesses have been reported to date from the Strubs product. However, if individuals have experienced any of the symptoms listed, they should contact their health care provider.

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Since August 2008 twenty-one Canadians have died after eating Maple Leaf deli meats contaminated with Listeria.  We all watched in horror as the worst food safety crisis in modern Canadian history rolled across the country.

There are six different kinds of Listeria.  Five of them are harmless.  The sixth, called Listeria monocytogenes is also safe if food is thoroughly cooked.  Healthy children and healthy adults are almost completely immune to Listeria, even the bad kind.  But it’s a different story for pregnant women, infants, people with damaged immune systems and the elderly. If they eat food with high concentrations of Listeria monocytogenes, they can get sick. Only about 4 in 1 million people contract listeriosis in Canada in a year. But sadly, about one-quarter of those vulnerable people who get sick from Listeria will die.

Last August’s tragedy began at our Bartor Road plant in Toronto.  We discovered after the fact - much too late - that there was a hidden spot deep within the slicing equipment that our regular sanitization missed, permitting Listeria to grow to high levels of concentration, high enough to make people sick.  It was the bad kind of Listeria, Listeria monocytogenes.  And it ended up in deli meats that were largely distributed to nursing homes and hospitals, where a vulnerable population of Canadians ate it. Twenty-one people died.

This was by far the most awful event in the one hundred year history of our company.  I can’t properly describe the overwhelming sense of grief and responsibility we all felt … I felt, personally.  You may remember seeing me on television back then, apologizing for the tragedy and vowing to develop the most comprehensive anti-Listeria program of any food company in Canada...

Editor's Note:  The above was taken from a recent entry on Maple Leaf's blog, which Mr. McCain contributes to.   Go here for more.

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