Listeria scare hits Halton Region
Wednesday August 27 2008 JASON MISNER Special to The IFP Two Halton residents have been stricken with the same strain of listeria linked to a deadly outbreak of the bacteria that originated at a Toronto meat plant.
Halton Region health inspectors have been asked by the Ontario Ministry of Health to visit area hospitals, long-term care homes, day-care centres and independent stores to ensure that meat products at the source of the outbreak have been pulled from shelves and are not being used by the service industry.
The affected residents include a woman in her 80s and a man in his 60s, said Matt Ruf, Halton Region’s manager of food safety. Both patients live in Burlington. The department would not identify the patients, who are currently under the care of their respective doctors.
He said the patients’ doctors ordered lab tests in July, which confirmed the presence of listeria, a potentially-fatal bacteria that can lead to fever, muscle aches, nausea or diarrhea. It is a reportable health disease in Ontario.
Locally, staff at both Halton Hills Extendicare and Mountainview Residence in Georgetown, have been in contact with Halton Region Health Department about the outbreak and said that neither facility had purchased any of the recalled products.
Over the weekend, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) received lab results from Health Canada that confirmed a link between meat products produced at Maple Leaf Foods’ Bartor Road plant in Toronto and an outbreak of listeriosis in four provinces.
The plant remains closed and more than 220 ready-to-eat meat products recently shipped from it have been recalled. The products are packaged under various well-known names such as Hickory Farms, Schneiders and Shopsys.
As of Monday, six Ontario deaths have been directly linked to the outbreak.
Because the onset of symptoms of listeriosis can occur up to 70 days after contaminated food is consumed, the CFIA expects the number of confirmed and suspected cases will continue to increase over the next several weeks.
Listeria can be found in a variety of dairy and meat products, vegetables and fish, soil, water and manure-based fertilizers, and is carried by farm animals. People can also carry it on their hands.
The disease affects primarily older individuals, pregnant women, newborns, and those with weakened immune systems, according to PHAC.
People who believe they are experiencing symptoms of the illness are urged to contact a doctor.
The expanded recall and plant clean up will cost the company an estimated $20 million as well as the loss of public confidence in the company.
Products affected by the recall have the number 97B printed near the expiry or packaging date. To view a complete list of the recalled meat products, visit www.mapleleaf.ca or www.inspection.gc.ca and click on the “listeria investigation and recall” link on the right hand side of the page, under the heading, “Hot Topics”.
Several food industry giants- including Tim Hortons, McDonald’s and Boston Pizza- have pulled some products from their menus in response to the listeria outbreak.
Meanwhile, Halton’s health department has confirmed it is working with its provincial counterparts to help investigate and control the outbreak.
“Health department staff has been keeping Halton health-care facilities up to date with information related to this outbreak, and has been providing local surveillance information to the provincial authorities,” said Dr. Monir Taha, Halton’s associate medical officer of health. “We are increasing communication with food vendors, and adding extra inspections to assist with the CFIA recall.
Ruf said two-dozen inspectors are attempting to visit independent, non-chain businesses across Halton to ensure they are aware of the recall and have removed any potentially contaminated meat products.
So far, inspectors have not found any recalled products still on the shelf during their visits, which is good news, Ruf said.  He said the inspections would carry on at least for the rest of this week.
“(The inspections) are very intensive,” he said.
The food safety manager stressed to residents that if they have meat in their fridge or freezer and aren’t sure where it come from, they should get rid of it.
“Our motto is when in doubt, throw it out,” he said.
On average, Halton has one to two cases of listeria per year, the health department noted.
-With files from Torstar News Service

SIDEBAR SIDEBAR SIDEBAR

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) offers the following tips for preventing exposure to potentially-deadly listeria bacteria.
• Keep foods out of the temperature danger zone (between 4C and 60C or 40F and 140F). Keep your refrigerator at 4C (40F) or colder. Refrigerate food promptly.
• Thoroughly cook or boil foods such as hot dogs and poultry products until they are steaming hot.
• Avoid raw, unpasteurized milk or foods made from it such as raw milk cheese.
• Purchase only as much product as will be consumed in 1-2 days.
• Wash raw vegetables thoroughly before eating.
• Wash hands before, during and after handling any type of food, especially raw meat and poultry.
• Clean all utensils, cutting boards and work surfaces with a mild bleach solution (5 ml/1 tsp. bleach per 750 ml/3 cups water) before and after using.
• Separate utensils for raw and cooked foods.
• Follow  “use by”  dates especially on packaged goods with a long shelf life.
• Avoid soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert, feta and queso blanco fresco.
• Avoid refrigerated smoked fish products unless you have cooked them, for example, in a casserole.

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