FSnet Aug. 27/08 -- II
listeria edition
BARFBLOG:
Canadian government information on listeria is mushy
More warnings
needed about listeriosis dangers, expert says
BARFBLOG:
Does Maple Leaf read barfblog?
Surveillance
'major failing in CANADA'
ONTARIO:
Inspectors failed to adopt more rigorous U.S. measures
CANADA: We
need answers to questions about the listeria outbreak
EDITORIAL:
Canadians should know when food is bad
How Pilgrim's
Pride survived its meat recall
BRITISH
COLUMBIA: Store's delay in meat withdrawal angers B.C.
family
EDITORIAL:
Listeria hysteria taking over at grocery stores
ONTARIO:
Woman, 89, first listeriosis victim
how to
subscribe
BARFBLOG:
Canadian government information on listeria is mushy
27.aug.08
barfblog
Doug Powell
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/canadian-government-information-on-listeria-is-mushy/index.html
My friend Marty will think this is hilarious, but I’m a bit
of a fancier of words.
Really.
Except I have a habit of using an apt sounding word that
means something totally different from what I was trying to
convey. Marty has been making fun of that quirk for 25
years, going back to our university newspaper days.
Fortunately, the computer dictionary has helped.
So has Amy. She’s really sharpened my word usage and helped
me become a better writer. One of Amy’s greatest pleasures
is identifying when people mix up it’s and its.
So when a wire story came out this morning with the lede,
“As Canada grapples with a deadly outbreak of listeriosis, a
leading food safety expert says the federal government has
not done enough to educate pregnant women and seniors about
the potential dangers of eating deli meats.
”
I went a bit nuts.
I would never say that anyone needs to be educated. It’s
arrogant. Sure, I’m perceived as arrogant about lots of
things, but on this I’m clear: provide information,
preferably in a compelling manner, and individuals will
decide whether they want to be educated or not. I’m writing
a paper about this. I’ve brought students to tears for using
the educate people line.
"Maybe we need warning labels (on the food), because the
message isn't getting out there," said Powell, an associate
professor of food safety at Kansas State University.
"
The Health Canada response was typically bureaucratic.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/food-safety-communication/canadian-bureaucrats-still-arent-that-into-me/
"There are a number of food safety tips and fact sheets and
a lot of consumer education on this," said Paul Duchesne of
Health Canada.
Show me the data. Show anyone the evaluation you’ve done
with your big budgets to ensure Canadians at risk are aware.
Demonstrate the effectiveness of your fact sheets and
consumer education which are best used as a sleep aid.
Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has publicly
admitted, new strategies are required to reach people about
food safety issues. As I said earlier this year,
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/04/articles/food-safety-communication/new-strategies-required-to-reduce-foodborne-illness-says-cdc-dont-eat-poop/
"The CDC data show existing efforts to reduce fodborne
illness have stalled. We need new messages using new media
to really create a culture that values microbiologically
safe food."
It’s not like this stuff is hard. We wrote a paper on it
last year.
http://food-pathogen.vri.cz/food_panthogens.asp?authorPart=Powell,%20D.%20A.&detail=23488
Powell, D.A., Surgeoner, B.V., Wilson, S.M. and Chapman,
B.J. 2007. The media and the message: Risk analysis and
compelling food safety information from farm-to-fork. Aust.
J. Dairy Tech. 62(2), 55-59.
Abstract
The potential for stigmatization of food is enormous.
Well-publicized outbreaks of foodborne illness through
traditional and new media demonstrate the rapid and
dependent interactions between science, policy and public
perception. Current risk management research indicates that
it is essential for risk managers from farm-to-fork to
demonstrate they are reducing, mitigating or minimizing a
particular foodborne risk. Those responsible must be able to
effectively communicate their risk reduction efforts in
multiple media and to provide evidence that these efforts
are actually reducing levels of risk.
Guess the folks at CFIA didn’t get that paper. A
well-meaning staffer at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
sent me an e-mail the other day, stating,
“The Media Monitoring Team here at the Canadian Food
Inspection Agency has been asked by our Director to start
monitoring reputable food safety related blogs.
“I was wondering if you would happen to have a prepared list
of any of these sites, and, if so, if you would be willing
to share these with us?”
Sure. Always ready to help the government when asked. I told
him barfblog.com and marlerblog.com. The other posers just
run headlines.
But maybe I’m just a crazy Kansas-type. Jennie Garth, who is
reprising her role as Kelly Taylor on a new 90210,
enlightened the world as to why the new "90210" is likely to
resonate with young viewers.
"It's going to reflect teenagers as they are. It's not going
to sugarcoat it. You know teenagers are teenagers no matter
if they live in Beverly Hills or if they live in crazy
Kansas somewhere. All the kids are the same. They're going
through the same elemental issues and problems."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/08/jennie-garth-on.html
More warnings
needed about listeriosis dangers, expert says
27.aug.08
Canwest News Service
Michelle Lang
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=b9915b71-ad87-4355-b5ef-0818cb4b7fe2
CALGARY - As Canada grapples with a deadly outbreak of
listeriosis, a leading food safety expert says the federal
government has not done enough to educate pregnant women and
seniors about the potential dangers of eating deli meats.
The comments come as public health agencies linked a total
of 15 Canadian deaths to an outbreak of listeriosis from
contaminated sandwich meats.
Dr. Doug Powell said Tuesday the bacterium listeria can grow
in cold cuts and some other ready-to-eat deli products even
when they are refrigerated.
That means high-risk
populations like the elderly should avoid these products
because listeriosis can be so deadly, killing 20 per cent of
its victims with compromised immune systems.
Yet Powell said many people aren't aware that Health Canada
recommends pregnant women, the elderly and
immuno-compromised patients avoid cold cuts and some other
deli foods like smoked salmon.
"Maybe we need warning labels (on the food), because the
message isn't getting out there," said Powell, an associate
professor of food safety at Kansas State University.
"
And the consequences are bad. The kill rate is about 20 to
30 per cent. That's really high for a food-borne pathogen."
But a Health Canada spokesman defended the federal
department's record on public education campaigns around
food safety. He noted the agency's website lists the
recommendations against consuming "non-dried" deli meats for
Canadians who are pregnant, elderly or have compromised
immune systems.
"There are a number of food safety tips and fact sheets and
a lot of consumer education on this," said Paul Duchesne of
Health Canada.
BARFBLOG:
Does Maple Leaf read barfblog?
26.aug.08
Barfblog
Ben Chapman
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/culture-of-food-safety/does-maple-leaf-read-barfblog/index.html
They've got pictures now.
After posting on Sunday night
(http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/2008/08/articles/culture-of-food-safety/listeria-recall-weve-got-pictures-maple-leaf-doesnt/)
about the confusion around Maple Leaf's multiple brands and
differing packaging, and seeing consumer reaction to the
same, I'm happy to see that Maple Leaf has stepped up with
some better comminication. In a YouTube clip from CBC
Toronto (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw_i2VxJ4Yg&eurl),
one concerned Canadian shopper shows her frustration by
saying "it's kind of hard to tell... a lot of things you
don't know if they come from the Maple Leaf thing".
My favourite Maple Leaf thing has always been Doug Gilmour,
circa 1993.
Maple Leaf foods has posted a viewer-friendly graphic
(http://www.mapleleaf.ca/, at the bottom of the notice) of
how to determine if a product is part of the recall. I
especially like the inclusion of variances of the
establishment code
Surveillance
'major failing in CANADA'
27.aug.08
The Gazette
Francois Shalom
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/story.html?id=dcd5f024-abae-40fb-86be-143172335324
Much of what we're learning these days about the deadly
listeria bacterium might soon be lost again for lack of a
concerted effort in Canada to ensure food safety, a
prominent microbiologist says.
Once the furor over the tainted Maple Leaf Foods Inc.
processed meats has abated, Canadian industry, governments
and academics and researchers will have learned little
because none of the wealth of information accumulated on
listeria in tidbits here and strands there will have been
catalogued and stored in an official central database, Rick
Holley, a professor at the University of Manitoba's
Department of Food Science, said yesterday.
Future biologists, epidemiologists, government officials and
researchers won't be much farther ahead after a future
outbreak, he said.
"This is a major failing in Canada," Holley said. "We need a
much more complete surveillance system for our food
network."
The United States, Holley said, is light years ahead with
FoodNet (Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network), a
comprehensive program co-sponsored by the Food and Drug
Administration, the Department of Agriculture and the
Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.
The vast network has 10 field offices covering the country
and aggressively canvasses doctors, hospitals, researchers,
government officials and others, and sends inspectors out to
processing plants and farm fields.
The result, Holley said, is a reliable evaluation of the
food chain, from seeds freshly planted in the field to
supermarket shelves. And it provides an up-to-date tracking
sample on the food health of 45 million Americans - fully 15
per cent of the U.S. population.
Without that structure in place, Holley argued, the
knowledge accumulated each time one of these killer bugs
hits in Canada is taken in isolation and tends to seep right
back out again, with the resulting loss of key medical and
microbial information and knowledge that can be
cross-checked and cross-referenced.
"We simply do not have enough samples of food, and that
means we cannot backtrack and make the correlation between
this event and that," Holley said.
"We need to start collecting data on patients, on food and
on organisms. Ours is a very passive system. As it is now, I
have to use American data for my research."
A half-hearted attempt to emulate the FoodNet program in
Canada began, but has petered out, Holley said.
ONTARIO:
Inspectors failed to adopt more rigorous U.S. measures
27.aug.08
Globe and Mail
Tu Thanh Ha and Bill Curry and Anne McIlroy
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080827.wmeat27/BNStory/National/home
TORONTO AND OTTAWA -- Canadian meat inspectors failed to
learn crucial lessons from a deadly listeria outbreak a
decade ago, experts on the bacterium suggested yesterday as
the food-safety crisis spread further with three more
deaths, including that of a woman in Saskatchewan, under
investigation.
And the federal agency responsible for food safety this year
began to let the industry conduct its own food testing, The
Globe and Mail has learned.
A leaked cabinet document that outlined plans for the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency to give the food industry a
greater role in the inspection process raised the ire of
opposition politicians last week.
However, some of the plans have been in place since March
31, according to a CFIA manager and an official from the
union that represents the federal inspectors.
At the Maple Leaf plant behind the listeria outbreak, a
single federal inspector was relegated to auditing company
paperwork and had to deal with several other plants, the
manager and the union official said, contradicting the
impression that officials had left last week that full-time
watchdogs were on-site.
Under the new system, federal inspectors do random product
tests only three or four times a year at any given plant.
And meat packers are required to test each type of product
only once a month.
Under the old system, inspectors had a more hands-on role on
the plant floor, did more of the tests themselves and had
more freedom to investigate, said former CFIA inspector Bob
Kingston, who is national president of the Agriculture
Union, a branch of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said that the massive
Maple Leaf meat recall highlights the need for Ottawa to
overhaul its meat-inspection regime.
"It's necessary to reform and revamp our food- and
product-inspection regime after some years of neglect," he
said yesterday. "As you know, in the recent budget, we put
considerably more inspectors and resources into this."
Mr. Harper rejected any suggestions that the federal
government is not doing enough.
"Obviously we want to make sure that the companies maintain
their responsibilities and that we fully review all the
facts here to understand what went wrong and how we can
prevent it in the future."
Some scientists said yesterday that Canada has also not
required companies to adopt new processing methods that
would make their products safer.
Canada simply failed to react in the same way as the United
States did to the 1998 deaths of 15 people who ate infected
hot dogs, the scientists say.
Many U.S. companies now pasteurize sliced turkey, ham and
other ready-to-eat meat products after they have been
packaged to kill any microbes.
"It is proven [to be] effective. But people don't like using
it," said University of Guelph food microbiologist Keith
Warriner, who suspects companies don't like to introduce new
technologies.
Another expert on listeria warned that meat slicers are also
a source of contamination, and recommended supermarkets
throw out any meat that might have come in contact with
slicers and knives used to cut the tainted products. Meat
not involved in a recall can get contaminated after tainted
meat has gone through the slicers at a deli or meat counter,
said Elliot Ryser, a microbiologist at the University of
Wisconsin and a listeria researcher.
"We've shown it gets transferred to the next 100 slices or
more. About 90 per cent of the transfer occurred in the
first 10 slices," said Dr. Ryser, who has written an
800-page book about Listeria monocytogenes, bacteria that
can cause symptoms similar to food poisoning, including
vomiting, diarrhea and fever.
In the United States, companies have the option of
pasteurizing the meat, adding compounds such as lactic acid
that kill listeria, or doing extensive testing. In Canada,
federal rules and regulations don't spell out these options,
says University of Alberta food microbiologist Lynn
McMullen.
She said companies don't like pasteurizing their finished
product in hot water because liquid in the meat can seep
out, and consumers don't like soggy-looking cold cuts.
CANADA: We
need answers to questions about the listeria outbreak
27.aug.08
The Vancouver Sun
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=aab3d55e-055e-4108-b9ef-de789b3ae283
At this early stage in the investigation of the listeria
outbreak, it's not surprising that we have more questions
than answers.
But there are many pressing questions that must be answered
if Canadians are to have confidence in the food supply.
Here's what we know: According to Canada's Public Health
Agency, there are 26 confirmed cases of listeriosis linked
to the outbreak, including 12 deaths -- 11 in Ontario and
one in B.C. In six of the Ontario deaths, the bacterium
Listeria monocytogenes is considered an underlying or
contributing factor, while the other five are under
investigation. The bacterium is considered to have
contributed to the B.C. death, but the case is "still a
little bit controversial."
The current outbreak is believed to be the result of
infected meat products at a Maple Leaf Foods processing
plant in Toronto. As a result, the company has issued
several recalls, the most recent one involving all 220
products produced at the affected plant.
Among the many things we don't know is how this outbreak
occurred, and more specifically, how the Maple Leaf Foods
products became tainted. Most meat processing plants take
pains to ensure adequate sanitation, and University of
Alberta food microbiologist Lynn McMullen has said that
Maple Leaf Foods is "very good" at food-safety management.
Yet the bacteria somehow made their way into the product.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) must therefore
determine how this occurred, especially at a plant with
"very good" sanitation practices, and we must consider what
improved practices are necessary to ensure it doesn't occur
again.
Aside from the cause of the outbreak, there are also
questions concerning whether the response to the outbreak,
by both Maple Leaf Foods and the federal government, was
sufficient.
It was in mid-July that health officials first wondered if
something was awry, given the infections of two Toronto
nursing home residents. Tests confirmed the presence of
listeria in a sandwich in the home, which led to
notification of the CFIA on Aug. 6.
Maple Leaf Foods informed its distributors of the matter on
Aug. 13, but didn't issue its first recall -- and hence
didn't notify the public -- until Aug. 17.
There's no way of knowing whether any infections could have
been prevented had there not been this delay in
notification, but given the possibility that consumers may
have eaten tainted product during that time, its a
reasonable question to ask.
It's also reasonable to ask why the public wasn't notified
sooner, either by the government or Maple Leaf Foods. And it
is only by providing satisfactory answers to these questions
about the cause and handling of the outbreak that health
authorities and Maple Leaf Foods will regain the public's
trust.
EDITORIAL:
Canadians should know when food is bad
27.aug.08
The Gazette
http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/editorial/story.html?id=5e3ce385-d6fc-45d0-bd47-17ff3ef9fab5
As the death toll climbs in Canada's listeriosis outbreak,
health and consumer-safety authorities at both the
provincial and federal levels would do well to look at how
other jurisdictions around the world handle these issues.
In many countries, consumers have turned to ready-to-eat
foods in huge numbers, and are buying processed food from a
steadily shrinking number of processors. With fewer
suppliers selling over larger areas, contaminated food from
just one plant can inflict harm over a large area - which
can slow down identification of the source of the outbreak.
Hard questions are already being asked about inspection
systems for food, but in fairness, outbreaks such as this
one are rare. Beyond factory inspection, the burning issue
here is how to identify outbreaks quickly when they start.
Canada's unco-ordinated and decentralized system of
information-gathering likely allowed the outbreak to travel
across the country for farther and longer than a more
efficient system would have permitted. In the absence of a
national information centre for infections such as listeria,
the link between the deaths and the factory was not made for
nearly three weeks. Consequently, the company's recall of
its products was delayed.
The World Health Organization strongly recommends that
countries devise co-ordinated, coherent, multi-sectoral
policies and practices. Countries that have achieved the
most success in food safety take this approach: Sweden, for
instance, has managed to eliminate salmonella from its
poultry production facilities.
Other countries have experienced even worse outbreaks than
Canada's current one. In France, 63 people died in 1993 as
the result of a listeriosis outbreak. It took nine months of
detective work to trace the outbreak to jellied pork
tongues. French doctors are now required to report to
authorities every case of listeria.
The WHO has installed on an international level an emergency
network to warn member countries of disease outbreaks. It
doesn't seem too much to ask that Canada be able to follow
suit domestically. Twelve deaths is proof enough of the
need.
How Pilgrim's
Pride survived its meat recall
27.aug.08
Globe and Mail
Steve Ladurantaye
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080827.RMAPLELEAF27/TPStory/
Pilgrim's Pride Corp. knows what Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is
going through, after the discovery of listeria in its
factory triggered what in 2002 was the largest recall in
U.S. history.
"There are a lot of bad memories, and it's not something
that we discuss any more," said Ray Atkinson, the Pittsburg,
Tex.-based company's director of corporate communications.
The 27-million-pound deli meat recall at its Wampler Foods
division, which the company initially told investors
wouldn't eat into its profits, helped push the company out
of the turkey business and eventually cost $85-million
(U.S.) - $35-million more than its $50-million insurance
policy would cover, according to annual reports. Eight
people died in the outbreak. The company's products were
never linked to the fatalities, but it settled four wrongful
death or injury lawsuits in 2006.
The company's decision to quickly recall products and allow
investigators access to its plants helped the company
recover, said Roy Ophir, director of research at Matrix USA
LLC.
"Management did a decent job of handling the situation, so
from that standpoint they were able to get their second wind
relatively quickly," Mr. Ophir said.
Maple Leaf recalled 220 types of meat last week in an effort
expected to cost at least $20-million, after the same strain
of listeria that has been linked to six deaths was found in
its Toronto processing plant. Investors have driven its
shares down 28 per cent to $7.99 since the news broke last
week on volume 10 times heavier than its three-month
average.
Pilgrim's Pride shareholders reacted with the same panic in
2002, pushing the company's shares 24 per cent lower in the
days following the Oct. 9 recall. But their disdain was
short-lived, as shares fully recovered within a month.
"When something like that originally happens, it has more to
do with the psychology of crowds than the fundamentals of
companies," Mr. Ophir said. "The lesson from Pilgrim's Pride
is that if your management team is competent, if they engage
the public and disclose relevant information as they become
aware of it, then the stock price can recover to the same
level as before the incident."
BRITISH
COLUMBIA: Store's delay in meat withdrawal angers B.C.
family
27.aug.08
Globe and Mail
Ian Bailey
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080827.MEATDELAY27/TPStory/
VANCOUVER -- To Debby Lauder, it was a close call. If not
for the media and her wary husband, the Surrey, B.C.,
resident fears she and her family might have been dining on
contaminated sandwich meat from Maple Leaf Foods.
Mrs. Lauder bought two servings of Maple Leaf Ezee Sub meats
from a Safeway in her neighbourhood on Sunday afternoon,
vaguely aware of concerns about a listeriosis outbreak
linked to Maple Leaf products that has become a major
public-health concern.
"It was to be our dinner and for our son, who got home from
work at 9 o'clock, so he could make himself big submarine
sandwiches," she said yesterday.
They were not worried. "Being trusting people, we assumed
Safeway had taken care of it," she said.
"So we sit down and watch CTV at 6 o'clock and it says 97B,"
said Ms. Lauder, referring to the product code on meats
caught up in Sunday's recall of 220 items made at Maple
Leaf's Toronto plant.
"And my husband, who is suspicious by nature, he said, 'Nah.
It will be gone by now. It's old news isn't it?' He came and
read the package and sure enough, it had two 97Bs."
She said she called Safeway right away and was told there
were no managers around, so she could bring back the
products the next day.
When she went to the store the next day, she said the
customer-service clerk gave her a refund, but offered no
expression of concern.
"I said, 'This meat has already been recalled.' She said, 'I
don't know. I've been on vacation.' "
EDITORIAL:
Listeria hysteria taking over at grocery stores
27.aug.08
Belleville Intelligencer
http://www.intelligencer.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1173668
There is fear in our grocery aisles bordering on hysteria.
Try finding a Maple Leaf brand piece of processed meat in a
store today and you'll be hard-pressed. That is, of course,
if you're so inclined to even buy processed meat of any
brand. Grocers are telling our reporters they're finding
consumers are decidedly turned off by any processed meat
product following news of deaths from listeria bacteria
contamination.
About 200 different meats join Maple Leaf products in the
recall that include brands like Schneider's, Hickory Farms,
and Burns.
As of Tuesday, six people have died with listeria, which may
have come from eating processed meats tainted with bacteria.
Two victims are from the Quinte area.
Carol Snell of the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties
Health Unit, said inspectors have visited stores and are
keeping institutions like nursing homes up to date with the
latest recall information.
"Health unit staff are working to ensure that all the Maple
Leaf products included in the food recall are removed from
grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores, long-term
care facilities, retirement homes, hospitals and day cares,"
she said. "In addition, health unit staff are in regular
contact with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency."
Belleville's county-run Hastings Manor, with 253 beds, is
the largest facility of its kind in the area.
Dietitian Allana Coakley said the nursing home was notified
weeks ago, when the outbreak was first suspected, by Sysco
Foods, which supplies many nursing homes and restaurants
with processed meats.
"Sysco immediately notified us," she said, adding that all
suspect products were pulled.
Sysco, the largest food service provider to institutions and
restaurants in North America, acted swiftly, responsibly and
is to be commended for striking quickly when it suspected
something was amiss.
But, where were federal and provincial agencies that should
have been sounding the alarm "weeks ago?"
Clearly, if Sysco and Maple Leaf knew there may be a
problem, there should have been faster notification of the
general public.
Now, there is near hysteria over the listeria contamination
of relatively small amounts of processed meats when
speedier, more selective action could have and should have
been taken to alert the public and other consumers of
potential problems with these products.
We have all, unfortunately, become accustomed to hearing
health warnings of eating certain canned foods that may be
tainted, some produce that may contain salmonella, certain
processed foods that have been pulled from the shelves and,
in almost all cases, harmlessly replaced with new, identical
but safe products and produce.
It's a credit to our food inspection agencies -- and woe be
the government that ever proposes cutting corners in that
department -- that some of these food alerts are issued
before deaths or serious illness occur.
But, in this case, the listeria bacteria is causing deaths
and serious illnesses in the segments of the population that
can least stand to fight off the bug and while Maple Leaf
Foods and public health agencies are in hyper-drive to
address the crisis, we have to wonder if there is not
something more that could have been done sooner to head off
the current outbreak.
As with mushrooms after a rain, lawsuits are just now
popping up as families of those affected by the contaminated
meats are looking for compensation for their trouble,
suffering and loss.
That too, as with the seemingly regular calls for food
recalls or warnings, is becoming a regular occurrence in our
increasingly litigious society, but it hasn't seemed to stem
the regularity of food contamination scares.
And that is precisely what we don't advocate -- fear and
hysteria about our food industry, which is among the safest
on the planet.
There's no need to go off processed meat for life because of
an occasional outbreak of food-borne contamination, just as
there's no cause to put off airline travel because a plane
crashes in Toronto or Madrid.
But, the agencies that are in place to alert us of the
potential for impending problems may want to closely
examine, in this case, who knew what, when they knew it and
who was told.
There are ways of imparting this information without causing
widespread panic, but we're not sure, in this case, all
those procedures were followed.
ONTARIO:
Woman, 89, first listeriosis victim
27.aug.08
Toronto Star
Joanna Smith, Emily Mathieu
http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/486117
Last week, Frances Clark was making plans for the future. On
Monday, the 89-year-old woman, described as vital and active
by her family, fell victim to the potentially deadly strain
of bacteria known as Listeriosis monocytogenes.
"It's just so overwhelming right now. All of a sudden we are
without our mum," said Karen Clark from her home in Madoc,
Ont., last night.
She doesn't know how her mother came into contact with the
bacteria. "All we know it was a confirmed case of
listeriosis. That is for the powers at be to find that out."
Clark is the first person to die to be identified since news
of the outbreak spread. She is also the sixth death in
Ontario confirmed to have been caused by the deadly
bacteria. In an additional nine cases across Canada – six in
Ontario, and one each in B.C., Saskatchewan and Quebec –
people had contracted listeria but health officials are
investigating whether the bacteria was the cause of death.
The outbreak has been linked to meat products now recalled
by Maple Leaf Foods.
Clark said her mother had been admitted to a local nursing
home about three weeks ago following an injury to her arm in
July and a stay at a local hospital.
A healthy woman with a keen mind, she was making
appointments to have her hair cut and pick up a new fleece
sweater for winter, said her daughter.
On Wednesday she started to feel "generally unwell." On
Friday she was admitted to hospital with a high fever. By
early Monday she was gone.
"You don't expect something like that to hit so quickly,"
said Clark. "One day she is fine then two days later she is
gone. This bacteria is just very cruel."
Four separate class-action lawsuits were filed yesterday
against the company.
The lawsuits, filed in Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan and
British Columbia, named Maple Leaf Foods, which was linked
to the ongoing outbreak after some products at a Toronto
plant tested positive for the listeria bacterium last week.
"Between the telephone calls to our various offices and the
people who have contacted us by way of the Internet, we've
already heard from about 500 people," said Evatt Merchant, a
partner in the Calgary office of the Regina-based
class-action specialty law firm that filed all four suits.
"I wish the number was smaller ... It's an unbelievable
tragedy and it should have been avoided."
Maple Leaf, whose shares fell 81 cents to close at $7.99 on
the Toronto Stock Exchange yesterday, did not comment on the
lawsuits, and said it had no other updates related to the
outbreak. Its shares are down 27 per cent since the outbreak
was first reported on Aug. 17.
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