Jim Thompson

Toronto Star Re: Ottawa won’t say whether drug-tainted horse meat entered food chain, March 30 Ottawa won’t say whether drug-tainted horse meat entered food chain, March 30 The article about the life and death of Backstreet Bully, a thoroughbred racehorse bred by Frank Stronach and slaughtered for food at a Quebec abattoir, is an indictment [...]

680 News  An investigation by the Toronto Star finds Canada’s Food Inspection Agency has serious problems dealing with the number of racehorses sent to slaughter every year. Racehorses are often given performance-enhancing drugs and there are some reports that could make their meat dangerous for humans to consume. The Star report found there is confusion at the CFIA over [...]

2 cases reported this month include person in Manitoba and person in Ontario The Canadian Press A total of seven people have been made ill from E. coli bacteria after eating beef that has been linked to recalls of frozen burgers. The Public Health Agency of Canada says two cases reported this month include a [...]

Kevin Drews – The Canadian Press VERNON, B.C. – B.C. is taking over inspection services from the federal government at about 60 slaughterhouses that process meat for the retail market. As of Jan. 1, 2014, the federal government will no longer subsidize Canadian Food Inspection Agency employees at provincially licensed slaughterhouses, so the province is [...]

Christopher Mims – The Atlantic Feb. 22, 2013 Nonprofit ocean protection group Oceana took 1,215 samples of fish from across the United States andgenetically tested them in order to bring us the following astonishing facts: 59% of the fish labeled “tuna” sold at restaurants and grocery stores in the US is not tuna. Sushi restaurants were [...]

Pitt Meadows Meats charged with 11 counts of selling food unfit for humans Curt Petrovich – CBC News Jan. 16, 2013 Officials at a B.C. meat plant say charges of selling beef from a batch of meat that tested positive for E. coli 0157 two years ago are “unfounded” and will be challenged “vigorously” in [...]

Coalition wants plug pulled on meat pre-clearance pilot project in wake of XL Foods recall David McKie – CBC News Jan. 14, 2013 An internal Foreign Affairs memo expressed concern that U.S. “confidence in the Canadian food safety system” could be undermined in the wake of last fall’s XL Foods beef recall. Josée De Menezes, [...]

E. coli seen as biggest threat more than a month after XL recall Food Safety News Jan. 2, 2013 The safety of the food supply is a leading concern for Canadians, according to a survey conducted more than a month after XL Foods recalled 1.5 million pounds of beef products sold in the country for [...]

E. coli outbreak at Alberta’s XL Foods plant sparks discussion on Canadian food safety The Canadian Press Dec. 26, 2012 Veteran cattleman George Graham has a common-sense solution for how to prevent a repeat of an E. coli outbreak and extensive product recall in the fall that made 18 people sick, threw thousands out of [...]

CBC News investigation finds salmonella in 2 out of 12 bags Joanne Levasseur and Leif Larsen – CBC News Dec. 19, 2012 Canadian food inspectors find salmonella in more than 10 per cent of commercial animal feed they test despite a zero tolerance stance, a statistic that has food safety experts alarmed, a CBC News [...]

Thanks loyal customers for business Jodie Sinnema – Edmonton Journal Dec. 8, 2012 EDMONTON – The president of Capital Packers expects his meat-packing plant to be fully operational again Monday after a “gruesome” two weeks dealing with a now-lifted license suspension by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Brent Komarnicki, president of the 83-year-old Edmonton-based company, [...]

Caley Ramsay – Global News Dec. 8, 2012 The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has lifted the suspension on Capital Packers Inc.’s operating licence. Following additional food safety testing and a thorough food safety investigation, the establishment was allowed to resume production on Wednesday, December 5. Capital Packers will continue to be under the microscope, [...]

CTV News Nov. 29, 2012 The revelation that federal meat inspectors were ordered to ignore carcass contamination at Alberta’s XL Foods plant reverberated on Parliament Hill Thursday, as opposition parties hammered the Conservative government over its handling of the E. coli crisis that sickened 18 people across Canada. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is once again [...]

Laura Kane – Toronto Star Nov. 29, 2012 Federal beef inspectors were told to ignore contamination on carcasses being processed for sale to Canadians at the XL Foods plant. A memo from a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) meat hygiene supervisor obtained by CTV News instructed CFIA inspectors to closely examine carcasses being processed for [...]

Bruce Cheadle – The Canadian Press Nov. 29, 2012 OTTAWA – The Conservative government is refuting opposition claims that Canada has a “two-tiered” food inspection system that puts the quality of beef exports ahead of meat consumed at home. A memo from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to its employees at the XL Foods processing [...]

The Globe and Mail Nov. 29, 2012 The Opposition says the Tories have lost all credibility when it comes to food safety. A 2008 memo from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency suggests that beef exports received more intense testing than domestically sold beef. Video link: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/news-video/video-opposition-renews-demand-for-full-cfia-audit/article5828777/ © The Globe and Mail

The Canadian Press Nov. 29, 2012 OTTAWA – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the same safety standards apply to meat for domestic consumption and for overseas exports and reports to the contrary are “categorically false.” The embattled federal food safety agency is reacting to a media report that inspectors at the XL Foods processing [...]

QMI Agency Nov. 29, 2012 Federal beef inspectors deny a news report that they were told to ignore contaminated carcasses intended for Canadian consumption from XL Foods, home of the recent E. coli outbreak that caused Canada’s largest meat recall. In a 2008 internal memo obtained by the CTV, a Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) meat [...]

Aaron Wherry – Maclean’s Nov. 29, 2012 The Scene. For as long as humans have possessed language it has been generally true that few good conversations involve the phrase “fecal contamination.” Perhaps that’s why the Prime Minister stepped aside this afternoon to let Gerry Ritz respond to the bulk of questions; of the six questions he [...]

Philip Ling – CTV News Nov. 28 ,2012 OTTAWA — Federal beef inspectors at the XL Foods plant in southern Alberta whose E. coli crisis sparked the country’s largest meat recall were ordered to turn a blind eye to contamination on carcasses being processed for sale to Canadians, CTV News has learned, a directive that [...]

The Canadian Press Nov. 23, 2012 EDMONTON – The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has suspended the licence of an Edmonton meat-processing plant over concerns for food safety. The decision involving Capital Packers Inc. came Thursday. The CFIA says adequate controls for food safety “are not being reliably implemented in the facility on a consistent basis.” [...]

One expert says it’s easy to mistake uncooked meals for fully-cooked meals CBC News Nov. 22, 2012 Food safety experts are warning people to read the labels of prepared meals very carefully as some people are only reheating foods that are supposed to be fully cooked. Karen Liljebjelke, a microbiologist at the University of Calgary, [...]

Kristy Kirkup – Parliamentary Bureau Nov. 20, 2012 OTTAWA – All parties supported and passed a government food-safety bill in the House of Commons on Tuesday, but opposition MPs still want an external audit of the system – a measure recommended after the 2008 listeria crisis. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz says new regulations in the [...]

Public health officials reported 6,800 cases of salmonella last year Tracy Johnson – CBC News Nov. 19, 2012 A CBC News examination of Canada’s food safety record over the last decade reveals mixed results. A decade ago, nearly 1,200 cases of E.coli per year were reported by the provinces. The number shrunk to 428 in [...]

Parliamentary Budget Office says 85% of cuts will affect services Canadians value Leslie MacKinnon – CBC News Nov. 6, 2012 Kevin Page, the parliamentary budget officer, says the vast majority of spending cuts announced in last March’s budget will have a direct impact on programs delivered by the federal government. This finding contrasts with Finance [...]

Jamie Komarnicki – Calgary Herald Nov. 5, 2012 CALGARY — Days after a beef processing plant shuttered by an E. coli scare resumed slaughtering cattle under new management, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has raised new safety concerns at the facility. The move suggests the XL Foods plant’s new managers — meat-packing giant JBS-USA — [...]

Dave Dormer – Calgary Sun Nov. 4, 2012 CALGARY - Days after the XL Foods plant in Brooks, Alta., resumed operations, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has asked that new corrective measures be put in place. “As would be expected in a facility that has not been in regular operation for some time, there have been [...]

Pat Atkinson – The StarPhoenix Oct.31, 2012 Canadians are questioning whether it is wise to have most of the cattle in the country slaughtered and processed at three huge plants. With the exception of smaller provincial meat processors, most of the beef we consume comes from XL’s Food’s Lakeside plant in Brooks, Alta., whose management [...]

Kristy Kirkup – The Toronto Star Oct. 30, 2012 OTTAWA – Opposition parties reiterated calls for an outside audit of Canada’s food safety system on Tuesday – a recommendation also made by an independent investigator who probed the 2008 listeria outbreak. “If it (audit) was required then, following the crisis, I am of the belief [...]

Independent auditor to begin food safety review Amanda Stephenson – Calgary Herald Oct. 29, 2012 CALGARY — More than 2,000 workers are back on the job Monday in Brooks, as the city’s biggest employer, the XL Foods meat-packing plant, resumes operations. “Morale is good,” said Doug O’Halloran, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local [...]

New food safety bill gets a boost Sarah Schmidt – Postmedia News Oct. 26, 2012 Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Thursday that government inspectors could have been “more hard-nosed” when dealing with the plant responsible for Canada’s largest beef recall. Speaking to parliamentarians probing the government’s bill to modernize Canada’s food safety law, Ritz also [...]

Sarah Schmidt – Postmedia News Oct. 25, 2012 OTTAWA—Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Thursday that government inspectors could have been “more hard-nosed” when dealing with the plant responsible for Canada’s largest beef recall. © Postmedia News

Renata D’Aliesio – The Globe and Mail Oct. 25, 2012 The Brazilian-controlled company that has taken over management of an embattled Alberta meat-packing plant at the centre of an E. coli outbreak and Canada’s largest-ever beef recall is doing a top-to-bottom review of the slaughterhouse and intensfying workforce training as it gears up to resume [...]

Sarah Schmidt – Postmedia News Oct. 23, 2012 OTTAWA – The plant at the centre of the Canada’s largest ever beef recall has regained its licence to slaughter cattle and process carcasses for the Canadian market. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency made the announcement Tuesday, nearly a full month after the federal agency yanked the [...]

Glen McGregor – The Ottawa Citizen Oct. 18, 2012 OTTAWA —Long before E. coli contamination was discovered in XL Foods Inc. products, U.S. authorities repeatedly warned the Canadian Food Inspection Agency about safety problems at the Alberta meat packer. Inspectors with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) sent a series [...]

Agency added 170 processed meat inspectors since 2006, but unions representing CFIA and XL workers say more slaughterhouse inspectors needed to keep pace with factory meat lines. Chris Plecash – The Hill Times Oct. 15, 2012 The Canadian Food Inspection Agency provided some clarity on the number of meat inspectors it employs last week, but [...]

Sarah Schmidt – Postmedia News Oct. 15, 2012 OTTAWA — The plant at the centre of Canada’s largest ever beef recall could get the green light to start churning out meat for Canadians before the end of the week, despite a testy public exchange on the topic over the weekend between XL Foods Inc. and [...]

The Canadian Press Oct. 12, 2012 EDMONTON — The federal agency responsible for protecting Canadians from food safety hazards will itself soon be under the microscope. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirms it is to be audited later this month by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the first time in three years. The agency [...]

Emily Mertz – Global News Oct. 9, 2012 The President of Canada’s Syndicat Agriculture Union provides insight into the XL Foods situation, saying processing plants like XL Foods are seeing increasing amounts of product without an increased number of inspectors. For weeks, the federal government has been standing behind its food safety record, and denying [...]

Matt McClure – Calgary Oct. 8, 2012 CALGARY — Federal food inspectors have released a long list of deficiencies — clogging of water nozzles used to wash feces from carcasses, condensation above exposed product, and unsanitary handling of meat — found during an audit of an Alberta plant at the centre of the country’s largest-ever [...]

Canadian Food Inspection Agency will be handing over the reins Jan. 2014 Renee Bernard – News 1130 Oct. 7, 2012 VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The regional executive vice president of the Public Service Alliance of BCis wondering if the province is going to be ready to take on its own meat inspections by 2014. That’s when the Canadian [...]

Gloria Galloway – The Globe and Mail Oct. 5, 2012 An Alberta meat processing plant that continued to churn out its product for more than three weeks after the discovery of a dangerous strain of bacteria early last month did not follow its own protocols for handling the outbreak. Harpreet Kochhar, the executive director of [...]

The Globe and Mail Oct. 4, 2012 Conservative Senators have amended new food safety legislation so that the federal agriculture minister makes an assessment every five years of whether Ottawa is spending enough to protect Canadians. The Conservative majority in the Senate agriculture committee voted Thursday to accept the amendment from Conservative Senator Don Plett. [...]

CTV British Columbia Oct. 4, 2012 As the Canadian Food Inspection Agency faces criticism for its handling of the country-wide E. coli outbreak, there are dozens of smaller meat processors in B.C. that don’t fall under federal regulations. A total of 57 provincially-regulated meat plants currently operate in B.C., where looser rules mean they aren’t [...]

Bruce Cheadle – The Canadian Press Oct. 3, 2012 OTTAWA – A beef recall billed as one of the largest in Canadian history has sparked a heated war of words — and numbers — in the House of Commons. Since a shipment of E. coli-contaminated Canadian beef from Alberta-based XL Foods Inc. was stopped at [...]

Brooks plant didn’t pull all required samples when E. coli found, CFIA head says Laura Payton – CBC News Oct. 3, 2012 The plant at the centre of the biggest beef recall in Canadian history wasn’t properly following some safety procedures, the head of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says. George Da Pont said Wednesday [...]