11/13: Meat Recalled: Maple Leaf Kitchener Ont

Syringe casings in meats held saline and blood thinner

Canada.Com

OTTAWA - Syringe casings that prompted a national recall of some Maple Leaf Foods products contained a mixture of saline solution and a blood thinning nutrient not normally used on animals, the company confirmed yesterday. The solution, commonly used to flush out wounds, is not used at the company's plant in Kitchener, Ont., and the casings found are different than those used by Maple Leaf, which adds fuel to fears some meat products were purposefully tampered with. "It would not normally be used in this facility or in animal care, to our knowledge," said Maple Leaf spokeswoman Linda Smith. Syringe casings were found in the plant on Oct. 24 and last Thursday and Friday, although a product recall was not announced until Tuesday. More casings were discovered last week, including one last Friday that was stuck inside a ham, which prompted the company to contact the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Although the company has received more than 900 phone calls since the recall was announced on Tuesday, no illnesses or tampered products have been reported.
Meat Recalled, Police Called After Syringe Casings Found At Maple Leaf Plant (http://www.canada.com/ Canada)
KITCHENER, ON - A syringe casing found jutting out of a ham at a Maple Leaf Foods processing plant in southwestern Ontario prompted a precautionary recall and a police investigation Tuesday for fear some of the company's meat had been tampered with. Products pulled from store shelves and examined have so far tested negative for any traces of contamination, and no illnesses related to the products have been reported, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said. An employee found the syringe casing, which contained trace amounts of a saline or salt-based solution, during his Friday night shift, said Maple Leaf spokeswoman Linda Smith. The agency was called Saturday and arrived at the facility Sunday night; the meat packer issued a recall of several products early Tuesday at the urging of the agency, Smith said. It was the third time a syringe casing had been found in the plant in just two weeks, but the first to prompt a recall because it was touching food, she added. No needles were found with the casings. "The company has acted appropriately, bringing the CFIA in when they did," Smith said.
The first casing was found Oct. 24 in the vicinity of raw meat products, but not touching any food. An incident report was written up by the company, with the theory that "perhaps it had come in with outside supply and was part of veterinary supplies," Smith said. The second syringe casing was found last Thursday on a table top. Police described the syringes as plastic, similar to those used to administer medication or cleanse a wound. Waterloo Regional Police Insp. Bryan Larkin said forensic investigators spent all day Monday going through the entire processing and manufacturing process at the plant. Police haven't yet determined whether the syringe casing found in the ham was put there on purpose. "That's the essence of our investigation - to actually determine how and why this did occur. It's a wide-open investigation," Larkin said. "We're currently concentrating our efforts internally right now, but it's a very complex investigation based on the magnitude and size of the company that we're currently looking into."
During a shift change at the Kitchener plant Tuesday, employees were tight-lipped about the incidents and politely declined to comment. Investigations and recalls rarely begin immediately after an incident is reported, said CFIA food safety and recall officer Garfield Balsom. "We have to determine if there's any product is affected, what's out on the marketplace, if there's any on the marketplace," Balsom said. "We have to be assured of all the products that are affected." Smith said all of the company's retail customers have been contacted, shipments of the product in distribution centers have been stopped, and the company's aim is for all product to be removed from shelves by the end of the day Wednesday. Most of the product has already been pulled from shelves, she said. Maple Leaf Foods Inc. recently reported a third-quarter loss of $22.3 million, the result of major restructuring costs. As part of that plan, the company recently canceled plans to build a new $110-million pork processing plant in Saskatoon and said it will wind down operations at one of two existing plants in the city over the next three years.

World Briefing | Americas

NY TIMES 8 NOV: Canada: Syringe Found in Ham

By IAN AUSTEN, NEW YORK TIMES
Published: November 8, 2006

The police are investigating possible food tampering that led one of Canada’s largest meat packers to initiate a nationwide recall of hams and lunchmeats. Schneiders, a unit of Maple Leaf Foods, said a plastic syringe was found inside a ham, and two others were discovered on equipment at a plant in Kitchener, Ontario. The syringes did not have needles and were described as the type normally used to give liquid medicines to small children. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said none of the meat involved in the recall was exported outside Canada.