TORONTO, Aug. 4 /CNW/ - Maple Leaf Foods today announced it is proceeding
with a recall of nine wiener products produced under the Hygrade, Shopsy's and
Maple Leaf brands at its plant in Hamilton, Ontario, due to the possibility
that they may contain traces of Listeria monocytogenes.
This is a precautionary measure only. The Company is 100% in compliance
with the Government of Canada's new Listeria policy. The Public Health Agency
of Canada has confirmed that there have been no reported illnesses related to
these products. Cooking hotdogs to steaming hot also kills any potential
foodborne bacteria, such as Listeria.
"After last August's tragedy, Maple Leaf is being ultra-cautious about
Listeria," said Dr. Randall Huffman, Chief Food Safety Officer for Maple Leaf
Foods. "The Hamilton plant has a very strong food safety testing and
sanitation program, and the Listeria monocytogenes found in random product
samples is at very low levels. Listeria exists in all food plants and many
consumer fridges. It is commonly found in the environment and one in 200
packages of all meat and poultry products in the marketplace will likely
contain Listeria monocytogenes, even higher in other ready to eat foods. We
take whatever steps we can to be cautious when we know specific lots that may
be exposed, as a precautionary step. Listeria can never be eliminated but it
can be effectively controlled. Maple Leaf is doing more aggressive and
frequent Listeria testing at our plants than regulations require, and that
means we're finding it more and acting whenever there is a potential and even
remote food safety risk."
Maple Leaf has built a safety net of hold and test quarantine procedures;
however, the effectiveness of product quarantine depends on rapid testing
methods which the government have not yet approved. The product in question
was produced during a period when test results were not yet available due to
the excessively long lead time of currently government approved testing
methods. We urge the Canadian government to approve commercially proven
in-plant rapid testing methods which are now widely in use in the United
States and Europe and Maple Leaf will immediately implement this technology at
all our prepared meat plants to improve the effectiveness of our quarantine
procedures.Products affected by this recall include:
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Product Size UPC BB Dates
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Hygrade Wieners 450g 58640 00001 09 SE16
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Shopsy's Deli Fresh All Beef 675g 63100 14461 09 SE17
Frankfurters
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Shopsy's All Beef Wieners 450g 64875 20730 09 SE08 and
09 SE17
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Shopsy's Deli Fresh Frankfurters 450g 64875 20745 09 SE08
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Maple Leaf Original Wieners 450g 63100 22356 09 SE08 and
09 SE17
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Maple Leaf Top Dogs All Beef 450g 63100 22395 09 SE08 and
Wieners 09 SE15
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Maple Leaf Top Dogs Original 450g 63100 22410 09 SE09,
Wieners 09 SE10 and
09 SE15
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Maple Leaf Top Dogs Original 450g 63100 22412 09 SE09
Wieners BBQ Size
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Maple Leaf Top Dogs 33% Less 450g 63100 82334 09 SE08 and
Fat Wieners 09 SE15
-------------------------------------------------------------------------The "best before" date, the establishment number for the Hamilton plant
"EST. 611" and Line 1 "L1" can be found on the inkjet stamp located on the
sealed edge of the packaging and the UPC code is located on the back of the
package. Note that products featuring an establishment code other than EST 611
or Line other than L1 are NOT affected by this recall. No other Maple Leaf
products are affected by this recall.
All customers have been notified and product is immediately being removed
from inventory or store shelves and returned to the Company. The Canadian Food
Inspection Agency is overseeing the completion of the recall.
Consumers who have purchased these products are asked to contact our
Consumer Response Line at 1-800-568-5801 to arrange to have the products
replaced, or return them to the store where they were purchased for a full
refund or product replacement.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading food processing company, headquartered
in Toronto, Canada. The Company employs approximately 24,000 people at its
operations across Canada and in the United States, the United Kingdom, and
Asia. The Company had sales of $5.2 billion in 2008.