12 deaths in Canada linked to listeria outbreak in meat products

As the outbreak widens, Maple Leaf Foods, owned by billionaire Wallace McCain, and one of the largest meat-packing and food-processing companies in Canada, has withdrawn all 220 meat products produced at its Toronto processing facility from store shelves. An initial recall on August 17 pulled only 2 ready-to-eat products from the market. The list of suspect meat products was then increased to 23 before the company decided to pull its entire line of packaged meats earlier this week.

McCain, aided by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan, purchased Maple Leaf Foods in 1995 and immediately moved to rationalize its holdings, buy out its competitors and cut the wages and staffing levels at its packing and processing facilities. A bitter 12-month strike in 1997-1998 resulted in an agreement between the United Food and Commercial Workers union and the company for a 40 percent wage cut, further job reductions and the closure of the Edmonton plant.

Editorial comment in the mainstream media has hailed the proactive way that Maple Leaf has handled the current incident. The company has predicted that it stands to lose at least C$20 million due to the recall.