Canada: Salmonella in sprouts, people are probably sick
The last time the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a press release, “There are no confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products,” 22 Canadians died and 53 were sickened with listeria. A cursory glance at CFIA press releases shows that when there are no sick people, CFIA will say, “there are no reported illnesses.”
So when CFIA announced a few minutes ago that it and Sunsprout Natural Foods are warning the public not to consume certain varieties of Sprouts Alive and Sun Sprout brands that contain onion sprouts because they may be contaminated with Salmonella and that, “There are no confirmed illnesses associated with the consumption of these products,” expect the sick to surface.
As best as I can tell, “no confirmed illnesses” means there is epidemiological evidence linking these sprouts and sick people, but CFIA doesn’t really believe in epidemiology, so they wait for the stagecoaches to go to the lab in Winnipeg and back with test results, before worrying people about some silly Salmonella. Or at least that’s what came out of the various listeria outbreak reports.
The Sunsprout Natural Foods involved in this recall is based in my hometown of Brantford, Ontario. I wonder if they have any relationship with SunSprout Enterprises Inc., of Omaha, Nebraska, that recalled Salmonella-contaminated sprouts in the U.S. Midwest in March 2009 after the sprouts made about 80 people barf.
The products in the current recall were distributed in Ontario and the Maritimes, and may have been sold in Quebec.
All Best Before codes up to and including August 27, 2009 of the following products are affected:
Brand
Product
Size
UPC
Sprouts Alive
Baby Onion Sprouts
70 g (2.5 oz)
0 69022 00032 0
sun sprout
Alfalfa & Onion Sprouts
135g (4.76 oz)
0 57621 13506 2f
I've gotten divorced, remarried, had another kid and moved to the U.S. - CFIA updates bottled water consultations ongoing since 2002
Yesterday, I made fun of Campbell soup boss Doug Conant who said he wanted Canadian-style food safety regulation in the U.S.
Here’s an example of the lightening speed with which Canadian bureaucracy works:
In 2002, Health Canada and the CFIA began consulting on proposed regulatory changes for bottled water and prepackaged ice in a document called Making it Clear - Renewing the Federal Regulations on Bottled Water: A Discussion Paper.
During the consultation, several significant technical challenges with the proposal were identified including: how to identify the source of the bottled water and the specific microbiological, chemical and radiological requirements listed in the proposed amendments.
Since that time, Health Canada and the CFIA have been consulting further with stakeholders to identify how to address these specific issues. A summary of consultations and comments received on proposed revisions to food and drug regulations on prepackaged water and ice up until November 2008 has been posted as a next step in this process to develop regulations.
This was published today. That’s seven years. And they’re still years from finishing.
Canadian Association of Journalists still exists, says CFIA wins secrecy award
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has won the Canadian Association of Journalists' Code of Silence Award for 2008 for its dizzying efforts to stop the public from learning details of fatal failures in food safety.
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"The judges were sick with awe at the intestinal fortitude the Canadian Food Inspection Agency gatekeepers have shown," said CAJ President Mary Agnes Welch. "It was clear that the CFIA's guard dogs found something they can really sink their teeth into."
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has delayed and extended, ad nauseam, requests related to the Listeria outbreak that killed 22 Canadians and triggered hundreds - perhaps thousands - of illnesses.
Requests filed for inspections records on the Toronto-area Maple Leaf plant at the centre of the outbreak took nine months to produce and communication records with the company are still embroiled in delays.
For one of the biggest public health issues to face Canada in recent years, details behind the cause of the outbreak, the apparent delay in warning Canadians and the agency's handling of the aftermath remain filled with unanswered questions.
The ignominious Code of Silence Award, handed out Saturday night at the CAJ's investigative journalism awards banquet, dishonours the country's most secretive government, department or agency.
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Can regulators regulate and promote? Safe food sells
I cringe when pompous professorial types begin sentences with, “Clearly …”
It happens a lot.
Over the years, I’ve repeatedly heard a variation of, “Clearly, government agencies can’t regulate and promote food at the same time.” I was on National Public Radio in Maryland a few weeks ago and the statement was repeated mantra-like by both the host and some activist dude.
Yesterday, it was Sylvain Charlebois, a business professor at the University of Regina, telling Canadian parliamentarians they should establish an independent food safety agency reporting directly to Parliament because the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is failing consumers because of its “dual mandate.”
That wasn’t so clear to Ronald Doering (right) who served as the CFIA's president from 1997 to 2002 and practically designed the agency. He called Charlebois's proposal to "hive off food safety" to a body reporting to Parliament instead of to a minister, “silly.”
"The principle consensus all around was if you're going to reorganize how you're going to do food safety, animal heath and plant protection, you've got to make sure you've got accountability right. All parties agreed that we needed to have the agency report directly to a minister in the traditional way, and there could be no doubt that the minister the agency reported to would be accountable for its work."
Sure, CFIA has problems -- like staff figuring out how to subscribe to FSnet. About 400 of them got deleted last week because of repeated error messages due to changes in e-mail addresses. About 250 figured out how to resubscribe; the other 150 decided to personally e-mail and demand I play secretary. Veterinarians with entitlement issues?
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Back to the issue. I’ve always thought it’s easier to market safe food and never had much time for the armchair conspiracy theorists.
Doering also said it's "simplistic" to argue the CFIA's dual mandate presents a problem for consumers. Rather, he said Canadians are well-served by putting "the whole food chain in a single enforcement agency, so the CFIA is responsible for seeds, feed, fertilizers, all plant health, all animal health, all food, all commodities because they are all connected."
"The Canadian food, animal health and plant regulatory system is admired around the world. The idea we can export to a 100 countries food, animal or plants without inspection has to say something about the credibility of the regulatory agency."
Canadian politicians beware: Maple Leaf's Michael McCain isn't really that into you
He may ooze empathy and smooth, but Canadian politicians on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food’s Subcommittee on Food Safety beware: Michael McCain (below, not exactly as shown) really isn’t that into you.
Sure he got dressed up for the committee appearance last night, prefaced it with a little foreplay at a luncheon for business types, and said I’m sorry, it was all me, but when a guy says that, he really means, it’s all you.
McCain just wants to get into your pants, or pants pockets, in the form of public tax dollars for inspections to ensure a future food safety façade so the profits at Maple Leaf Foods won’t be further inconvenienced by death and illness from deli meats.
McCain of Maple Leaf Foods has become the latest corporate type to ask for government help in the form of increased inspection. The dude from Kellogg’s did the same thing in the U.S., as did the growers of lettuce and spinach in California, and tomatoes in Florida. They all said the same thing: we can’t figure out how to provide a safe product while sucking in profits, so government, please, do it for us (that way, when there is an outbreak, we can at least say we met enhanced government standards). If anyone wants to know why government at best sets a minimal standard, read the testimony of Carole Swan, President of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Dr. Brian Evans, Executive Vice-President of CFIA.
All of this is tragically embarrassing.
And this ain’t rocket surgery.
Opposition MPs praised McCain for taking responsibility for the tragedy and questioned whether the government should do more to accept part of the blame.
No. Stop being taken in by the fabulously handsome McCain. The best food producers and processors will go far beyond government standards to provide a safe product; they make the profit; they should make it safe. They should brag about it.
McCain told business leaders earlier on Monday, perhaps after a lunch of liquor and delicious deli meats, that the food industry "has to raise its game" because it doesn't take food safety seriously enough.
“This industry has to raise its game. It has to take food safety more seriously, it has to invest more in food safety, and it has to improve its record of delivering safe food to consumers."
Wow. Sixteen years after Jack-in-the-Box and McCain and his $5.5 billion a year company discovers food safety after killing 21 people. He also felt it necessary to lecture parliamentarians and others that ‘poke and sniff’ methods of inspection were outdated. That rhetoric is at least 20-30 years outdated.
You know (a listener said my overuse of ‘you know’ on a Baltimore phone-in show yesterday was appalling and that as a professor lecturing to ‘glasses’ I should know better; I told him I had a voice for print and he should watch his spelling) Amy and I need people to help out with baby Sorenne. I’m not sure we need a village, but babysitters and friends are handy a few hours a week so we can slog through some work. Or shower. Sorenne is 4-months-old.
I’m somewhat baffled, however, when the so-called leaders of multi-billion dollar corporations or producer groups ask for babysitters in the form of government inspectors. Are your managers 4-month-olds that need someone to play ga-ga with? Help to get in their walker?
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Canadian parliamentarians, stop being swooned by this guy. NDP MP Malcolm Allen said, “The only way you can get trust back with the public is through third-party verification.”
Apparently the star-struck Mr. Allen, thinking he was asking a tough question, showed himself as the star-struck girlfriend, who knows nothing about food safety, like the shitfest of third-party (non)verification at the Peanut Corporation of America plant which led to nine dead and 600 sick from Salmonella.
Here’s what is appalling about all this: no one, or at least me, expects anything but the bare minimum from government. The CFIA types can say they’re sorry all day, they’ll still have jobs and still go off for six-months of French lessons to move up in the Canadian government bureaucracy.
Michael McCain (above, exactly as shown), who runs that $5.5. billion a year company manufacturing products identified for decades at high risk of listeria, could stick with, yeah, we screwed up, we should have learned from all these past listeria outbreaks, we should have paid attention to the positive test results sitting in our filing cabinets, we’re sorry.
As Steve Martin once said, ‘But Noooooooooooo.’
Instead, McCain makes a big deal out of hiring a food safety dude after the fact, and lectures the rest of the industry and the country on what should be done; instead it’s like dating the worst kind of reformed smoker or born-again addict preaching to everyone else: forget minimal government regulations, forget the preaching, sell safe food. Listeria didn’t just come along 10, 20, 30 years ago, or yesterday, as you would have Canadians believe.
McCain, take care of your own shop, the one that happily makes money. Then maybe we can talk about another date.
Until then, I’m just not that into you.
More Canadian listeria reports; more bureaucratic BS
The bureaucrats have been busy.
Three more Canadian government studies on the listeria outbreak of 2008 which killed 21 were quietly posted Friday afternoon while the House of Commons was adjourned – what the Canadian Press called a traditional dumping ground for news the government wants to bury.
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The Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency each released their Lessons Learned Report today, following a thorough review of the steps taken during last year’s tragic listeriosis outbreak.
Despite the fact that Canada has one of the best food safety systems in the world, and that outbreaks like the one in the summer of 2008 are extremely rare, it was clear that further improvements were needed.
Who writes this shit?
I already read one government report today and wanted to gouge my eyes out. I’ll need to spread these out over the weekend with viewings of old movies which make me feel secure and happy, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail which is playing right now.
Some early highlights from media coverage:
Despite having an emergency response protocol, the CFIA never did activate an emergency operations centre as laid out it the plan. Still, the report concludes: "In general, the CFIA exercised its inspection and other statutory powers during the recall process."
The CFIA report first congratulates federal agencies on their "timely and appropriate exchange of information."
But under the heading "Areas for Improvement," the report states that timely determination of an outbreak and timely notification of the public require "additional clarity at provincial and federal levels ... as to protocols and leadership roles."
Conservative Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was the lead government spokesman during the crisis, and came under fire for making a tasteless joke about "death of a thousand cold cuts" during one internal conference call.
Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett said she can't understand why Ritz was given the role of communicating to concerned Canadians.
"It seems that there was interference, political interference, in what was clearly a public health outbreak that should have been managed by public health officials and done in a clear communication with the people of Canada.”
Canadian food safety: there are no rules on informing the public
Toronto’s Globe and Mail reports in tomorrow’s edition that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency often finds problems with bottled water, but doesn't tell the public about them.
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CFIA food safety and recall specialist Garfield Balsom said there are no hard-and-fast rules on what requires public notification.
“There is nothing indicating what is to be made public or what's not.”
The way the story is written, it's difficult to tell whether this rather explosive quote refers to just bottled water or all food safety issues. The story does explain that an Access to Information Act request was required to determine CFIA issued 29 recall notices for bottled water products between 2000 and early 2008, but issued a public warning in only seven cases, two of which came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made public its recall orders.
Balsom said that other countries follow the same approach and don't automatically issue notices because consumers would soon be overwhelmed by publicity over recalls, most of which would pose low risks.
“There are downsides to publicizing everything.”
True. But based on past case studies, people hate it when government-types are inconsistent or bureaucratic or less than forthcoming.
The agency has an internal hazard ranking system, known as class one, class two and class three, for products that respectively pose high, moderate and low risk. … But the access records show that there was no consistency in the agency's approach. There were cases of the same bacteria and same hazard ratings being treated differently, with some having public recalls and others not.
This is a persistent problem – when to go public. Suspicions remain that CFIA and Maple Leaf Foods were slow in responding to last year’s listeria shitstorm that killed at least 21 – and a public offering of who knew what when is still missing.
Same with the Salmonella in tomatoes and jalapenos last summer in the U.S. Many were frustrated by conflicting messages and finger-pointing. Same with cyclosproa in the U.S. in Canada in 1996, in which California strawberries were erroneously fingered when it was the Guatemalan raspberries.
Epidemiology, like humans, is flawed. But it’s better than astrology. The more that public health folks can articulate when to go public and why, the more confidence in the system. Past risk communication research has demonstrated that if people have confidence in the decision-making process they will have more confidence in the decision. People may not agree about when to go public, but if the assumptions are laid on the table, and value judgments are acknowledged, then maybe the focus can be on fewer sick people.
Listeria la bamba
The beat goes on.
Brian Evans, executive vice-president of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, wrote in the Globe and Mail this morning that the only part of a July 24 meeting between officials from Maple Leaf Foods and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency that concerned listeria centred around consistency between Canada's approach to import testing and monitoring, and that of other countries.
Michael McCain of Maple Leaf said the same thing in a March 4, 2009, press release,
"While we welcome open discussion of the outbreak in any and all reviews to ensure appropriate lessons are drawn from this tragedy, we take the strongest possible exception to any inference that we withheld information from the public."
As I said March 4, those explanations are probably true.
But CFIA and Maple Leaf -- especially Maple Leaf if it’s the world-class thingy it claims to be – need to publicly state, for the record, who knew what when, instead of continuous damage control every time someone asks a question.
Evans also writes today that,
These consultations had nothing to do with the listeria outbreak that was brought to light several weeks later and to which the agency responded quickly and professionally.
No one can judge whether the agency responded quickly and professionally because a detailed timeline of who knew what when is simply not available. If McCain really valued “open discussion of the outbreak” they would publicize their own listeria test results leading up to the public recall in an outbreak that killed 20.
Bamba bamba.
Canadian government and Maple Leaf need to come clean on who knew what when in listeria outbreak
Let the dancing begin – the wordplay salsa, the Ottawa shuffle, the Rideau skate.
Whatever it’s called there’s a lot of wordsmithing this morning as Canadian Press reports that listeria was discussed at a July 24, 2008 meeting between suits from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Maple Leaf, despite previous denials that listeria was ever mentioned.
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CFIA and Maple Leaf now say they initially denied Listeria came up at the July meeting because it was not mentioned in the context of Canada's outbreak, which at that date had yet to be confirmed by lab tests.
So media outlets are running with the story, even though CFIA executive vice-president Brian Evans has a perfectly solid explanation that there was "absolutely no discussion" during the meeting about Listeria being linked to one of Maple Leaf's Toronto processing plants.
"Discussions focused on ensuring consistency of import monitoring with other jurisdictions for microbial pathogens, including Listeria.
"As the executive vice-president of CFIA, I have had countless conversations about Listeria and microbial control with industry. This kind of general conversation about food safety is par for the course during meetings with industry."
That’s probably true. But CFIA and Maple Leaf -- especially Maple Leaf if it’s the world-class thingy it claims to be – need to publicly state, for the record, who knew what when, instead of continuous damage control every time someone asks a question.
Notes from the July meeting, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, show that while Mr. Evans and Mr. McAlpine (of Maple Leaf) did talk about hog and pork operations, they also discussed "food safety in relation to Listeria."
Further information is blanked out in the documents released by the CFIA.
Way to build consumer confidence. Stop being reactive and take control of the situation. Or maybe there is something to hide.
How safe is Canadian food? Don't ask
The Maple Leaf makeover continued this week – a promotional video, settling all lawsuits for $27 million – yet some lingering questions remain. And neither Maple Leaf nor the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is rushing to answer the hard questions:
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• who knew what when;
• why won’t Maple Leaf make their listeria test results public; and,
• what is Maple Leaf Food's advice to those folks vulnerable to listeria.
Rob Cribb of the Toronto Star reports today that thousands of pages of documents detailing the federal government's handling of this summer's listeria outbreak are being withheld.
The Star and the CBC are seeking the records, which include emails sent between officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Maple Leaf Foods and the City of Toronto, through an access to information request.
The CFIA has imposed extensions of a year or more on top of the normal 30-day deadline for responding to such requests.
The joint investigation used the federal access to information law in the hope that a request would yield records showing what went wrong, when officials first knew of the outbreak's potential impact and how quickly the system kicked in to protect Canadians.
None of the records first requested four months ago have been released.
Repeated requests for an interview with Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz have been denied.
CFIA says listeria silence was a mistake
During the waning days of the Canadian listeria outbreak, a Canadian academic-type sent me a love letter, which said,
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“I did hear awkward remarks about your organisation from several microbiologists I know. Your comments in CB confirmed what I heard. I heard other comments you made recently on the listeria outbreak, appalling, very poor comments. Please refrain making further comments, at least publicly. You are hurting our profession.”
I guess if your profession is kissing the ass of industry and the federal government while people die and pregnant women risk miscarriage, then yes, I’ve been harming your profession.
But now, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has taken to echoing the concerns – the “very poor comments” – that I have stated since the beginning of the listeria outbreak in Aug. 2008.
Robert Cribb of the Toronto Star wrote on Wednesday that,
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency could have done a far better job communicating with the public during this summer's listeria outbreak, a top official at the federal agency concedes.
"There's been a lot of hard questions asked ... in terms of how we can get information to the public in as timely a way as possible," said Dr. Brian Evans, CFIA executive vice-president and chief veterinary officer of Canada. "I accept the criticism that there is a need for us to reflect and to do a much better job of informing (Canadians)."
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Oh Brain Evans, where were you in August?
As I’ve written many times before, if Canadian cattle or chickens get sick, the public is told all about it.
If Canadian people get sick, not so much.
Cribb also writes that one CFIA initiative that will help in that regard is a newly formed advisory panel comprised of four prominent food safety experts. The panel will consult with the CFIA on best practices and possible changes to existing protocols.
That may help with listeria testing protocols but I can’t see how it will help with communications; especially since CFIA hasn’t announced who is on this advisory panel and what it is they will do. If you really want to do better, CFIA, don’t talk about it, do it. Oh, and clearly articulate your policy on when to go public about foodborne illness outbreaks. And warning labels.
My friend, Harshavardhan Thippareddi, a listeria expert and associate professor of food science at the University of Nebraska, was also quoted in the Star story, saying,
"While food safety should be the responsibility of individual companies, the regulatory agencies have the responsibility to verify that the food safety of the products produced is assured. Thus, the regulatory agency can, and I believe should, require companies to share any and all data that pertains to any safety issue, in this case listeria testing results."
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Amen.
Oh, and to the author of the love scribble, awkward doesn’t begin to describe things. Amy and Ben and others around me are saints. But at least I am willing to state my evidence-based opinion publicly, with my name attached.
E. coli O157:H7 outbreak links point to lettuce
Two local health units said today that lettuce – specifically Romaine lettuce –was the common factor in an E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to food service operations in four southern Ontario towns that has sickened 130 people.
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency responded by saying,
“Canadians are reminded that the best way to prevent foodborne illness is by handling their food safely. … Canadians can also refer to CFIA’s detailed four point plan to prevent E. coli in the home.”
All of the people got sick at restaurants or cafeterias – not in their homes. And contamination of lettuce and other fresh produce needs to be prevented on the farm – there is little consumers or food service can do when contaminated product arrives.
CFIA has new food safety advisory panel - doesn't tell anybody
In the spirit of open and transparent communications, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has created a new food safety advisory panel – and not bothered to tell anybody, particularly the taxpayers that fund CFIA.
Amidst some stories about new listeria testing protocols for Canada, the Toronto Star and CBC noted there was, “a newly formed CFIA panel of experts advising the agency on food safety.”
So 11 years after being created, CFIA decided to get a panel of experts to advise on food safety, which, the agency declares, is it’s top priority.
There is no mention of this new science advisory panel on CFIA’s website.
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Over 200 sick with E. coli from Harvey's; one child 'very ill' in hospital
The E. coli O157:H7 outbreak linked to a North Bay, Ontario, Harvey’s burger joint, is going from bad to worse.
The North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit said today there are now a total of 207 cases, of which 39 are lab confirmed for E. coli O157:H7.
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“Although we can reveal few details to avoid identifying anyone, there is one child who is very ill and in hospital,” said Dr. Catherine Whiting, Medical Officer of Health. “This person meets the criteria for complications from an E. coli infection, specifically Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome or HUS.”
The restaurant has been closed since Oct. 12. That’s more than enough time for DNA fingerprinting and to see if there are any matches with rather numerous E. coli outbreaks going on throughout North America. The CBC reports food samples have tested negative for the E. coli strain, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's investigation has turned to testing food handlers. After only 11 days? Wow. If this was an animal disease, CFIA would be all over it. But, it’s just people.
Canadian food safety bureaucrats continue to stumble -- and more people are sick
I started FSnet, the food safety news, shortly after the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak in Jan. 1993. Sure, Al Gore hadn’t invented the Internet yet, but those of us in universities had access, and I started distributing food safety stories.
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It all seems sorta quaint now, what with Google alerts and blogs and RSS feeds, but my goal was straightforward: during the Jack-in-the-Box outbreak, a number of spokesthingies said, they didn’t know E. coli O157:H7 was a risk, they didn’t know that Washington State had raised its recommended final cooking temperature for ground beef, they didn’t know what was going on.
So FSnet was conceived and made widely available so that no one could legitimately say, they didn’t know.
Yet that’s exactly what federal bureaucrats in Canada said last night when questioned about the delay in warning those in southwestern Ontario that lettuce from Aunt Mid’s in Detroit, implicated in a large Michigan-based E. coli O57:H7 outbreak that has stricken at least 34, had made its way across the border.
And now at least two people in Ontario have tested positive for the same strain of E. coli O57:H7.
David Musyj, president and chief executive officer of the Windsor (Ontario) Regional Hospital, said last night that authorities in Michigan issued a public-health alert about the link to Aunt Mid’s iceberg on Friday, Sept. 26, 2008, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency didn’t bother notifying Windsor health officials until Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2008.
"What happened between Sept. 26 and Oct. 1? Clearly there is a communication gap that occurred. I want an investigation to be launched into this to find out why there was a communication gap, whether it was our CFIA or whether it was the State of Michigan."
Dustin Pike, a spokesman for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, said in an e-mail yesterday that the Public Health Agency of Canada notified the CFIA of the E. coli outbreak in Michigan potentially linked to the lettuce on Tuesday, and after determining that the product had been imported into Canada, the CFIA contacted Windsor health authorities the following morning. …
Davendra Sharma, a food-safety recall specialist at the CFIA, said the agency acted promptly when it heard of the outbreak to identify who in Canada purchased the product and to notify Windsor officials.
Again, I started FSnet all those years ago so bureaucrats and others couldn’t say, I didn’t know.
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The Michigan outbreak was first publicly reported on Sept. 16, 2008. Lettuce was identified as the primary suspect on Friday, Sept. 26 2008. Why it took until Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2008 for someone at Health Canada, the Public Health Agency of Canada or the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to notice there was an outbreak next door in product that could be shipped to Canada is baffling.
Especially because of all the bureaucrats that read FSnet. According to tonight’s numbers, 27 people at PHAC, 149 people at Health Canada, and 316 people at CFIA receive FSnet. That’s almost 500 people, and no one noticed?
Tonight, test results have, unfortunately, revealed that two cases of E. coli O157:H7 in Chatham-Kent, Ontario, are of the same strain identified in 38 cases in the United States. All of the cases are thought to be linked to shredded iceberg lettuce distributed by Aunt Mid's Produce Company. This product is distributed in five pound industrial bags to institutions such as hospitals and long-term care homes, as well as restaurants in southwestern Ontario.
Musyj of the Windsor hospital captures the failings of CFIA when he says:
"Once something is thought of seriously enough to raise a red flag, then you better call everyone affected by the red flag. You can't wait for a death to happen to notify everyone."
Although that seems to have been the CFIA policy with listeria: with 20 dead and counting, it’s a bad policy.
CFIA, what is your policy on going public with information that can prevent illness? Is your primary priority to protect public health? If so, can you provide evidence to back such a claim?
And how can any of you say you didn’t know?
Oh, and for those who see salvation in a single food inspection agency, as is often discussed in the U.S., please notice the dysfunctional mess that is CFIA.
More listeria revelations: CFIA waited (at least) 5 days to issue advisory, policy on going public seems to suck
Toronto’s Globe and Mail newspaper reported Saturday that health officials in Ontario ordered hospitals and nursing homes to stop serving Maple Leaf meats five days before the public was told about a deadly source of food poisoning that has so far claimed 19 lives and left another 60 people seriously ill across Canada.
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The CFIA launched its investigation on Aug. 6, after officials at the Ontario Ministry of Health informed it that there was an outbreak of listeriosis in the province. Many local health officials were already grappling with a spike in listeriosis cases, but they did not become aware that the outbreak spanned several provinces until July 30, when they received a directive from the ministry, telling them to urgently report any new cases.
On Aug. 14, health officials in Ontario learned during a telephone conference call with the CFIA that the agency had some test results revealing that Maple Leaf deli meats contained the foodborne bacteria known as Listeria monocytogenes.
The CFIA waited until it had the DNA fingerprint evidence establishing a definitive link before it went public – on Aug. 19, 2008.
CFIA spokesman Garfield Balsom said,
“We had lab results indicating that there was positive listeria in a product and we would issue our normal recall based on that.”
So epidemiology doesn’t count? If CFIA really does not issue public advisories unless it has a positive result, that would explain the low number outbreaks linked to fresh fruits in vegetables in Canada. Who knows how many sick people there are, and how many illnesses and deaths could have been prevented in the current listeriosis outbreak.
A positive listeria sample would have triggered an immediate recall in the U.S. So what is the CFIA policy on going public – on issuing advisories that specific foods may pose an imminent danger to the health of Canadians. CFIA won’t say what their policy is, at least not publicly, but a policy that maligns epidemiology and relies excessively on positive test results – especially when those samples appear to be delivered by stagecoach – is restrictive and reckless.
As past of that accountability, I told the Toronto Star on Thursday that Canada does not need an inquiry and does not need more inspectors, rather,
"People need to do their jobs. The CFIA is accountable to Parliament through the minister of agriculture, so either the minister, or the Prime Minister's Office, should call the head of CFIA on the carpet and say, `You've had this internal report since 2005. Issue some clear guidelines on how to communicate during an outbreak of food-borne illness. Give clear instructions to inspectors and the industry on what is expected to ensure a safe food supply ... If you can't do that, I will find someone else who can – and not some political appointment, someone with a food safety background who will do what is necessary to protect the safety of the Canadian food supply and bolster the Canadian brand in international circles.'"
Such straight talk, especially when it comes to informing the public about health risks, is largely missing in Canada, experts agree.
So while the politicians and unionists pontificate, a columnist at the University of Calgary student paper got the most rightest:
"Canadians have entrusted one single agency, the CFIA, to protect the entire Canadian food supply-- we have placed all food security in one basket.
"If the CFIA did not exist, perhaps Canadians would be better off. … The current food inspection system has failed Canadians. Maybe it is time for a change."
As an aside, a columnist with the Ottawa Citizen who fancies himself as some sort of risk guru wrote Saturday that,
“Another clue lies in the number of listeriosis deaths in past years. According to Statistics Canada, there were five in 2000. In 2001, four. In 2002, seven. In 2003, three. In 2004, one. (Data for subsequent years were unavailable.) …
“The Globe also noted the Canadian regulatory standard is weaker than that of the United States, which allows no listeria content at all in ready-to-eat foods. But the Globe did not report that, according to the Centers for Disease Control, roughly 2,500 Americans become seriously ill with listeriosis each year and 500 die.
“Thus the listeriosis fatality rate is far smaller in Canada than the U.S. That, too, does not suggest a crisis.”
The columnist is comparing actual listeria cases in Canada with estimated cases in the U.S. And why no alarm that the most recent numbers in Canada are from 2004?
Canadian food safety bureaucrats still aren't that into you
If Canadian cattle or chickens get sick, the public is told all about it.
If Canadian people get sick, not so much.
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That’s what I wrote in Dec. 2006 in a piece called, Sorry, bureaucrats just aren’t that into you.
I’ve said the same thing for the past month as the listeria in Canadian cold-cuts outbreak became public. The latest figures show at least 18 dead and 60 confirmed or suspected ill.
The several-week delay in telling Canadians about listeria in Maple Leaf cold-cuts, coupled with the self-congratulatory and exceedingly false statements about the superiority of Canadian disease surveillance is just another episode in the arrogant and dysfunctional father-knows-best approach to providing health advice practiced by various Canadian authorities.
Dr. Phil would say the relationship between officials at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and the Canadian public is like a couple headed for divorce: they don't speak unless forced to, and when asked, it's denial, deceit and deception.
Rob Cribb of the Toronto Star reports today that a major review of Canada's food recall system three years ago identified serious problems that experts say continue to threaten public safety.
“Spotty inspections across the country, delays in warning the public about tainted food and a lack of follow-up to prevent repeat outbreaks are documented in the government report, obtained through access to information legislation.
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The 2005 Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) review predicts concerns that have emerged from the current Maple Leaf listeria outbreak that has claimed 18 lives.
"There is no clear policy on when a recall requires public warning," the report states.
Timely public disclosure of food risks re-emerged as an issue last month when it took three weeks for officials to warn the public of tainted Maple Leaf meat. …
In the aftermath of the outbreak, public health officials and politicians were quick to reassure Canadians that the country has one of the best food safety systems in the world. But behind the scenes, the review documents a history of serious internal concerns: "Most findings in this report have previously been identified by the various parties involved in food recalls."
The CFIA audit paints a picture of a sometimes-chaotic system where turf wars can impact the public's need to know about food warnings. …
Doug Powell, a Canadian food safety expert working at Kansas State University, said any warnings officials received from the review appear to have been ignored. "It's contentment with mediocrity. The bureaucrats don't seem to care very much. They all talk a good game, but they never think it will happen to them, so they just go on."
I can imagine Dr. Phil asking in his Texas drawl "How's that working out for ya’ll?"
The most frustrating part is that CFIA is staffed with individuals who are excellent public advocates and spokespeople. On issues relating to mad cow disease or avian influenza, CFIA goes out of its way to communicate with Canadians, perhaps fearing that any crisis of confidence will reduce sales and impact Canadian farms.
Yet when it comes to the 11 to 13 million foodborne illnesses in Canada each and every year, CFIA has adopted a policy of don't ask, don't tell.
Maybe Dr. Phil can get the public and CFIA into a relationship based on open communication, trust, and respect, but I doubt it. Time to move on.
Headline hysteria: Food inspection 'disaster' looms
The reporter started in about how she had some document, and a guy got fired and would I review it.
I said, e-mail it, I don’t want to wake my wife, bye.Last week, it was reported that an employee with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was fired after sharing a document that supposedly outlines changes to food inspection and labeling in Canada.
This reporter had an exclusive copy of the document and was seeking so-called expert opinion on its contents.
This is what I e-mailed the reporter (I rarely use capitals or proper grammar in e-mail messages)
I've reviewed the document; not sure what the big deal is
government will always being looking to save money, as they should; any proposed change would have to be measured against the potential impact to public health
the underlying principle is: Industry has a responsibility to produce safe food -- from farm to fork. Government is there to verify and enforce.
there are specifics to consider with each summary point -- for example, would eliminating funding for BSE testing encourage less testing?
but based on these summaries, it's difficult to say much; and as the (Ottawa) Citizen story says, there's no surprises here; the agency has been moving in this direction for years
In a subsequent message, I said,
sorry i couldn't have added more, but the real issue seems to be the termination of this person's appointment
CFIA does lots of insufficient food safety things, but they aren't covered in that document
The story that appeared Saturday was typically Canadian – long on speculation, short on substance.
One source, described as “a leading Canadian academic specializing in food risk management” spoke only on the condition of anonymity. What’s the point of having tenure if academics won’t go on the public record? Maybe the unknown academic was embarrassed by his or her comments.
"Reducing food safety controls at this time could be disastrous if there is an outbreak of a new food-borne disease.”
The document contained summary points about shuffling responsibilities – it said nothing about reducing food safety controls. For those who think government is in control when it comes to food safety, spend some time in the food safety world, not just when it’s fashionable.
After paragraphs of baseless speculation, my e-mail message was turned into a quote:
Douglas Powell, scientific director of the International Food Safety Network at Kansas State University, said, "Industry has a responsibility to produce safe food, from farm to fork. Government is there to verify and enforce."
But the best part is what isn’t in the story, A reporter from a national television news outlet called Ben for comment, and subsequently told Ben they had killed the story: not enough substance.
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What it's really like to work for the Canadian government
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This is no mistake. And is the best I'm-away-automatic-e-mail-response I've ever seen. Ah, to be a bureaucrat in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency." I have finally been Paroled after 35 yrs with the Federal Government...and as such will not be accessing this email address EVER again."
Best wishes, Mr. former Canadian government employee. You have been unsubscribed from FSnet. Please feel free to sign up from home.
Creepy creeping beef recall continues in Canada
What is going on at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency? Yesterday, CFIA and Cardinal Meat Specialists Ltd. yet again expanded a creeping recall of hamburgers possibly contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 to more burgers, and said no one had gotten sick from any of the products.
Maybe not any of the newly recalled products -- most with a best before date of June 2007, nice gumshoe work, CFIA -- but a Nov. 13/07 CFIA press release said Cardinal Meat Specialists Ltd. was recalling some burgers and that one person was sick with E. coli O157:H7 from those lots of burgers.
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The story begins Sept. 29/07 when Topps Meat of New Jersey issued the second largest ground beef recall in U.S. history. After 40 illnesses in eight states, and recalling 21.7 million pounds of frozen hamburger -- one year's worth of production -- Topps filed for bankruptcy Wednesday.On October 26, USDA said a now-defunct Canadian firm, Rancher's Beef of Balzac, Alberta, was the likely source of bacteria-contaminated meat used by Topps. CFIA said it was investigating 45 illnesses and one death caused by E. coli O157:H7 but wouldn't say if it was linked to Rancher's Beef.
They've been playing footsie with the public ever since.
The recall prompted the USDA to announce changes in how it will inspect meat plants and would move faster to encourage recalls. On Nov. 4, 2007, USDA FSIS announced that it would increase testing of Canadian beef imports at the border.
CFIA is ncreasingly irrelevant - except in their own minds. I've received e-mails from food and health-types at both local and provincial levels asking what's going on at CFIA and complaining about bureaucracy run amok.
A single federal food inspection agency has its drawbacks.
LA Salad company sues inspection agency over shigella-in-carrots recall
The Los Angeles Salad Company is, according to a Vancouver radio station, suing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency over this summer's massive recall of baby carrots.On Aug. 17, 2007, CFIA issued two warnings about LA Salad baby carrots sold at Costco because they may have been contaminated with shigella. The Agency said at the time that the carrots had already made four people sick, which triggered a subsequent recall in the United States.
The company now says that CFIA's allegations weren't supported by scientific fact and accuses them of shoddy testing. In documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court, the company is claiming damages due to a continued loss of business.
Who, what, where, when, why?
Journalism basics, something I'll be teaching at Kansas State beginning next week and something the ever-evasive Canadian Food Inspection Agency dances around.This time it's a warning that Los Angeles Salad Company Baby Carrots may be contaminated with Shigella.
The release says there have been four reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.
No other details, except that the affected product, Los Angeles Salad Company Genuine Sweet Baby Carrots, is labelled as product of Mexico and imported by Los Angeles Salad Company. It is sold in 672 g/1.5 lb plastic bags bearing ITM 50325, UPC 8 31129 00137 7 and Sell By dates up to and including 8 /13 /07.
This product was sold in Costco stores in British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Newfoundland.
These bureaucrats still aren't that into you.
In 2005, contaminated carrots served over three days on flights out of Honolulu were the likely cause of 45 cases of shigella poisoning across 22 states, Japan, Australia and American Samoa.
