Questions and Answers: CFIA Investigation into Capital Packers Inc. (Listeria monocytogenes)

Information on the suspension of the company's licence to operate

What is happening to product at the plant?

All products currently at this plant are under the CFIA's detention and control.

What are next steps at the plant?

As the CFIA's food safety investigation progresses, additional products may be identified and it is possible that this recall could be expanded.

Capital Packers Inc. will not be able to resume operations until they have fully addressed CFIA's corrective action requirements and the CFIA is fully confident in the plant's capacity to effectively manage food safety risks is demonstrated

In addition, work will be undertaken to examine where contamination may have occurred.

What led to the suspension?

The CFIA has determined that adequate controls for food safety are not being fully implemented in the facility and that the company has not been able to consistently comply with the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990. As a result the CFIA has taken precautionary measures of suspending the company's operating license.

When problems are found, companies are given deadlines, based on the seriousness of the problem, to implement corrective actions. In this case, the CFIA has issued a number of corrective action requests (CARs) based on regular inspection activities and has determined that the company has been unable to effectively demonstrate that it has the acceptable plans in place that address corrective action requests and respond to these issues over the longer-term. In particular, the company is unable to demonstrate that it has effective processes in place keep track of its production

This was observed recently during the CFIA's examination of documentation related to a positive listeria finding in the plant. This finding was not a food product, but what is referred to as an environmental finding. Such environmental detections are routine; however, the company was unable to accurately determine if potentially affected product produced on that day was under its control.

Initially, the company advised the CFIA that the products produced on the day of the positive environmental finding were under the company's control. However, validation activities conducted by the CFIA determined that product produced on the affected line may have been distributed to several provinces.

As a result, on November 22, within a few hours of determining that the operator had failed to take measures to correct deficiencies with their recall program, the CFIA delivered a notice of suspension to the operator.

When did the CFIA find out about this listeria situation?

The CFIA was notified on November 19, 2012, by Capital Packers Inc. that during routine environmental testing a sample from a food contact surface (an employee's sleeve) taken on November 7, 2012 tested positive for Listeria monocytongenes.

Initially, Capital Packers Inc. advised the CFIA that any products produced on November 7, 2012 that were associated with positive results were under the company's control. However, validation activities conducted by the CFIA have determined that product produced on the affected line may have been distributed to several provinces. As a result of this information, the company has voluntarily recalled product from this production date.

Was the sample tested in a CFIA laboratory?

The environmental sample was taken at the establishment and sent to a private accredited laboratory for testing using a regulatory analytical method. The result provided by the private laboratory to the establishment falls within the general service standard that would be seen in a CFIA laboratory.

Why did the company's testing - and not the CFIA's testing - catch this positive listeria sample?

Both the company and the CFIA conducted regular sampling and testing of products and the plant environment. All of the CFIA's tests were negative. Similarly, the company's product tests were negative. To date, the only positive sample detected was from an environmental sample (an employee's sleeve).

Was there a delay in the company notifying the CFIA of the positive detection?

The CFIA was notified as soon as the company received test results.

Once a sample is taken and received in the laboratory, it can take up to 11 days to confirm a positive result. There are steps that the laboratory must use to ensure that it meets regulatory requirements.

These steps include growth of bacteria and isolation of specific types of bacteria, which can take up to five days, and confirmation of results, which can take up to six days.

As part of the ongoing investigation, the CFIA has contacted the private laboratory to determine the precise sequence of events between the collection of the sample and when they informed Capital Packers Inc. of the positive sample.

The CFIA is also going through company records, specifically looking for any information that the company may possess on this issue.

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