What could have caused the contamination in the Maple Leaf Foods products was it a flaw in the food production?
In the course of investigating the Listeria monocytogenes incident involving ready-to-eat meat products, a potential contributing factor may relate to meat slicing equipment. The investigation has highlighted that organic material may become retained within the inner workings of this equipment, unrelated to contact surfaces, even after routine sanitation and cleaning conducted in accordance with the manufacturers specifications. This may have the potential to contribute to the contamination of ready-to-eat meat products processed on this equipment. CFIA will continue with its investigation in order to determine the extent to which slicing equipment was a contributing factor and will work to identify any other potential sources of listeria contamination at the plant.
