CFIA suspends licence of meat facility over food safety concerns

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has suspended the licence of Capital Packers, a facility based in Edmonton, Alberta, after it found that proper food safety controls were not being followed at the establishment.

The CFIA noted that the company failed to correct the food safety deficiencies that were identified during previous inspections.

In addition, the company may have distributed products contaminated with Listeria to several provinces.

Capital Packers detected Listeria at the facility and notified the CFIA on 19 November.

Although the company initially told the CFIA that the affected products were under its control, investigation by the agency revealed that the products produced on the affected line might have been distributed to several provinces across Canada.

It was also found that the company was unable to properly track the distribution of its products.

As a precautionary measure, Capital Packers is recalling the following products that were produced on the affected line: Capital brand 300g ham sausages and Compliments brand 375g ham sausages.

The company said that six additional lines may be associated with the contamination and plans to expand the recall if necessary.

To date, no illnesses linked to the consumption of the affected products have been reported.

The facility will not fully resume operations until it implements the necessary corrective actions to prevent food safety risks, CFIA said.

Capital Packers produces bacon, sausages, fresh meats and other products and distributes them in western and northwestern parts of the country.

This alert comes a month after the CFIA suspended the licence of XL Foods’ facility in Brooks, Alberta, over E.coli contamination concerns.

XL Foods recalled nearly 2,000 meat products and about 18 people were affected in four provinces due to consumption of the contaminated products.