Alberta Meat Processing Plant Licence Suspended Over Food Safety Concerns

Nov 23, 2012

Canadian Food Inspection Agency Suspends Capital Packers Inc. Operating Licence, Some Recalls Have Been Issued

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced Thursday, its decision to suspend Edmonton-based Capitol Packers Inc. meat processing facility after concerns over food safety.

The CFIA had concerns over the plant’s ability to implement controls for food safely on a consistent basis. The agency also said that the company hadn’t properly performed the corrective deficiencies that CFIA inspectors had previously identified.

The agency has thus placed all products inside the plant under detention while the agency continues to investigate whether products shipped from the plant previously have any potential food safety risks to consumers.

The CFIA has announced two recalled products for concerns about potential Listeriosis contamination. The products are sausage. The sausages are solid under different package weight types and brands. The following is the full list of the known recalls as of Friday, Nov. 23, 2012:

• Sausage – Capital brand 300 gram packages
• Sausage – Compliments brand 375 gram packages

Note: Both products carry the code 2012-DE-26

There have been no reported illnesses relating to these products to date. The agency says that Capitol Packers Inc. will not be able to resume operations until all corrective actions have been met. The company’s market spans Western Canada and the Northwest Territories.

Video: Season 6, Episode 12: Veterinarians’ Perspectives on Managing Swine Herd Health Across All Phases

Identifying challenges in swine production and turning them into solutions through research and team development is the focus of this episode. Dr. Christine Mainquist-Whigham of Pillen Family Farms and DNA Genetics shares insights on herd health, biosecurity and trial work to improve pig performance. She also discusses her team’s research philosophy, how they evaluate rate of investment and how they gather feedback from employees to address challenges and maintain herd health across all phases of production. Dr. Carlos Roudergue of Country View Family Farms discusses the growing complexity of swine production, especially as technology increases and employee interaction decreases. He also shares how their workforce is shifting toward more specialized roles to support herd health and efficiency.