Listeriosis death toll climbs to eight as consumer group demands action
Published Thursday August 28th, 2008
TORONTO - The number of confirmed deaths in a listeriosis outbreak that's been linked to meat products made by Maple Leaf Foods took a sharp jump Thursday as a national consumer advocacy group called the outbreak an "outrageous" situation that never should have happened.
Eight deaths, all of them in Ontario, are now being blamed on the outbreak, while seven others - four in Ontario and one each in Quebec, B.C. and Saskatchewan - remain under investigation, say federal health officials.
At last count Thursday, a total of 29 cases had been linked to the outbreak and 36 others remained under investigation.
Eleanor Friedland, vice-president of the Consumers Council of Canada, said she doesn't believe the federal government when it says consumer safety is a top priority.
"If that's the case, how come (so many) people have died and we don't know how many more will be showing symptoms?" Friedland said.
"The ball fell through and consumer confidence is right down the tubes, with respect to government and companies like Maple Leaf. It's absolutely outrageous."
Friedland's comments came on a day that saw family and friends bid a final farewell to an eastern Ontario woman whose sudden death Monday is being blamed by family members on listeriosis.
Frances Clark, 89, was remembered as being "full of fun" by her friend Shirley Sutton after some 60 people paid their respects at a funeral in the tiny town of Madoc, Ont., 40 kilometres north of Belleville.
Reports say prior to falling ill, Clark spent time in a hospital and a nursing home where recalled Maple Leaf meat products were being served. The family is still waiting to hear from medical officials whether Clark's case was part of the outbreak.
"I think that it should be investigated at the nursing home, but I think the plant in which all this has developed, it certainly should be checked into very, very thoroughly," said Sutton, 73.
Friedland called on the federal government to ramp up inspections and for municipal and provincial governments to bully Ottawa into paying attention to the matter, which she suspects will be a major election issue should Canada be headed for a fall election.
"It's affecting more and more people than you can possibly imagine," Friedland said, adding she has heard from many concerned citizens in the wake of the outbreak and recalls of Maple Leaf products.
"School lunches are going to have to be re-thought, hospitals, cafeteria - this is a major, major consumer issue."
Friedland said she also wants to know how the Maple Leaf plant in Toronto came to be contaminated with the Listeria bacterium in the first place, calling president and chief executive Michael McCain's claim that the source may never be determined "nonsense."
"They have to find out what caused this so that it can never happen again," Friedland said. "If they don't find out, how do I know that next month it's not going to happen again? Or with some other products? More care has to be put into how our food is prepared."
At a news conference Thursday in Ottawa, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said about 15,000 institutions, distributors and retailers had been checked and affected products were being removed - evidence, he said, of a recall that's "working well."
But Ritz declined to comment on allegations from Bob Kingston, president of the agricultural employees wing of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Kingston called it "pure fiction" to claim that inspectors spend only half their time on paperwork under a new system introduced in March.
The union claims the system, brought in by the Conservative government, has turned inspectors into paper-pushers who don't spend enough time monitoring conditions on the plant floor.
Kingston noted that one inspector responsible for Maple Leaf was also responsible for six other facilities - two meat processing plants and four cold storage operations.
Paul Mayers, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency official, told an Ottawa news conference Thursday the new system was designed with the goal of a 50-50 split between hands-on work and paperwork, but acknowledged the practical reality is more complicated.
"It is intended to be divided equally, as the minister noted," said Mayers. "We recognize that, from one day to the next, the absolute amount of time on a particular task may not be exactly equal."
Barely an hour after Ritz's news conference, the Public Health Agency of Canada added two more products to a recall list that now numbers well in excess of 230 items.
Late Wednesday, PHAC recalled a variety of cooked ham and salami sandwiches sold at Sobeys, Foodland and IGA stores across Ontario. On Thursday, the company added two more products to the list: 230-gram white and whole wheat "deli lunch box wraps" (UPC codes 267214 603599 and 227271 603598).
The items, which carry "packed on" dates up to and including Aug. 24, contained meat that was recalled by Maple Leaf Foods the very same day, when it pulled all 220 items that had been produced at the Toronto facility that's proven to be ground zero for the outbreak.
PHAC spokesman Dr. Mark Raizenne said Canadians who are most at risk of listeria remain the elderly, pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems.
"The important message for people is that if you have the symptoms that are associated with listeriosis that you take precautionary actions as you see fit, in terms of seeing a health professional or public health person," Raizenne said.
Early symptoms - including nausea, vomiting, cramps, diarrhea, headache, constipation and persistent fever - can appear similar to the flu, and should be assessed by a doctor if they persist or get worse, he warned.
Late Thursday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and White House Meats Inc. of Toronto recalled oven roasted turkey breast that had been recalled by Maple Leaf.
The oven roasted turkey breast was sold until Aug. 24 at the deli counter from two White House Meats locations on Bloor St. and Bayview Ave., and some was sold from the Bayview location in approximately 200 gram vacuum packed plastic bags bearing the name Oven Roasted Turkey Breast.
On Wednesday, Costco Wholesale Canada also recalled two types of meat platters sold at its warehouses under the Kirkland Signature brand with best-before dates up to and including Aug. 28.
Sobeys spokesman Andrew Walker said the affected sandwiches were prepared and sold prior to the expanded recall and were pulled immediately following word from Maple Leaf.
"Because we knew we had made those products, we had removed them from sale when the recall was initiated," Walker said.
"We executed the recall, we did it effectively, efficiently and the products that are now being recalled were prepared and sold prior to the recall."
Ron Damiane, a spokesman for Costco, said all products included in the Maple Leaf recall were pulled on Monday, including the deli platters, and customers who had bought affected products were notified by phone.
That's standard procedure for recalls, Damiane said: Costco requires membership to shop at its warehouses and tracks the purchases of its members, allowing the retailer to contact affected customers in the event of a recall.
"If there's a problem with a product, we pull the product off the floor and begin calling our customers, and typically within 24 hours everyone's been called," Damiane said.
Earlier this week, various products containing affected Maple Leaf meats were recalled, including some Mac's and Safeway sandwiches in western Canada, and some Atlantic Prepared Foods Ltd. and Metro Ontario Inc. sandwich products in the Maritimes and Ontario.
-With files from Gregory Bonnell in Madoc, Ont.
-
Some key dates in the development of the cross-Canada listeriosis outbreak
TORONTO - June 2: Earliest date from which meat prepared at Maple Leaf Foods plant in north Toronto later begins to fall under suspicion of Listeria contamination.
Mid-July: Two people living at the same Toronto nursing home die and are diagnosed with a similar bacterial infection. Ontario health officials begin actively investigating cases of people falling ill.
Aug. 5: Samples taken from Toronto nursing home test positive for listeriosis.
Aug. 6: Canadian Food Inspection Agency notified of the results of Toronto sample testing; returns to nursing home to collect additional samples of meats and cheese.
Aug. 13: Maple Leaf notifies distributors they are under investigation; remaining inventory of Sure Slice roast beef, corned beef and Black Forest ham is put on hold.
Aug. 14: CFIA officials consult with public health officials in Toronto, who in turn tell hospitals and long-term care facilities to stop serving certain meat products and begin collecting additional samples.
Aug. 16: CFIA officials meet with Health Canada and recommend a recall.
Aug. 17: Two specific ready-to-eat products produced at Toronto plant - Sure Slice roast beef and corned beef - are recalled.
Aug. 19: Tests on recalled products come back positive; Maple Leaf prepares to expand recall.
Aug. 20: Federal officials confirm one death, 16 other cases linked to listeriosis outbreak. Products from two more Maple Leaf production lines are recalled, bringing total to 23. Toronto plant at the heart of the recall is shut down; Maple Leaf projects cost of recall at about $2 million.
Aug. 22: Officials confirm listeriosis associated with the outbreak caused the deaths of two elderly women in Ontario, bringing official death toll to three. Health officials in B.C. report death linked conclusively to outbreak strain of listeriosis, but death is later reclassified as "under investigation." Royal Touch Foods recalls Shopsy's Reuben sandwich, which contains recalled meat.
Aug. 23: Officials confirm link between outbreak and Maple Leaf products produced in Toronto. Maple Leaf chief executive Michael McCain issues abject apology, describes crisis as "the toughest situation we've faced in the 100 years of this company's history."
Aug. 24: As a precaution, Maple Leaf expands the recall to include all 220 products produced at the plant at an estimated cost of about $20 million. Television commercial featuring McCain's apology begins to air.
Aug. 25: Public Health Authority of Canada officials say six deaths in Ontario conclusively caused by outbreak strain of listeriosis, with six others - five in Ontario, one in B.C. - under investigation. Lucerne Foods announces recall of some Mac's and Safeway sandwiches across Western Canada, after some sandwich meat was named in Maple Leaf's latest recall.
Aug. 26: Prime Minister Stephen Harper speaks on the outbreak for the first time, defending Conservative government's handling of the file. Atlantic Prepared Foods Ltd. and Metro Ontario Inc. recall several sandwich products sold in Maritimes and Ontario.
Public Health Authority of Canada officials say numbers of deaths under investigation up to nine from previous six, with 29 confirmed cases nationwide.
Aug. 27: Frances Clark, 89, of Madoc, Ont., becomes first victim of Listeria outbreak identified. Clark died on Aug. 25 in hospital.
Public Health Authority of Canada officials reduce the number of deaths conclusively caused by the outbreak strain of listeriosis to five from six.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd. recall two products that contain a ready-to-eat deli meat product previously recalled by Maple Leaf.
The CFIA recalls Cooked Ham and Salami sandwiches sold in Sobeys, Foodland and IGA stores in Ontario because they may contain a ready-to-eat deli meat product previously recalled by Maple Leaf.
Aug. 28: Public Health Authority of Canada officials raise number of deaths conclusively caused by the outbreak strain of listeriosis to eight from five. Twenty-nine cases have been conclusively linked to the outbreak, and an additional 36 suspected cases remain under investigation.
The CFIA recalls Deli Lunch Box Wraps on white or whole wheat sold in Sobeys, Foodland and IGA stores in Ontario because they may contain a ready-to-eat deli meat product previously recalled by Maple Leaf.
The CFIA and White House Meats Inc. of Toronto recalled oven roasted turkey breast sold at two Toronto locations that had been recalled by Maple Leaf.
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