Canadian listeria outbreak linked to cooked meat

With all the emphasis on Salmonella over the last month or so - a Listeria outbreak in Canada has now come the focus of attention. On their website Maple Leaf Foods state that "Maple Leaf Consumer Foods and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) are voluntarily expanding a recall of certain ready-to-eat packaged meat products and are warning people not to serve or consume the products as they may contain Listeria monocytogenes". The site lists the twenty-three products believed to have possibly been affected.

The site states that "Currently there are 17 cases of individuals across Canada with the same strain of Listeriosis (13 in Ontario, two in British Columbia, one in Saskatchewan and one in Quebec). There has been one death in Ontario that has been attributed to this same strain. We have been advised by authorities that there is no evidence to suggest that the individual who passed away or any of the cases are linked to the contaminated product".

The latest CFIA alert can be found here.