XL E Coli Recall

[ASRG]

Apparently the US has closed the border to Canadian beef imports and there is a recall of beef as far away as Texas!
The CFIA has concluded the Brooks XL plant had several failures in "quality control". XL has come up with a plan that exceeds industry standards to clean up the problem, according to the CFIA.

Just wondering what happens to all that recalled beef? Does it go to a landfill or is it somehow reused?

[smcgrath76]

This may slow down prices on the yearling
run in Canada.

[gaucho]

Thats what the industry gets for staying status quo and being dependent on the US for exports like an addicted smoker... who needs BSE to put a wrinkle in the market

[grassfarmer]

Just to be clear its a ban on beef produced by XL
crossing the border not a ban on all Canadian beef.
Reports I read say XL were de-certified from
exporting to the US back on Sept 13 - 3 days before
CFIA got on the case. It was US border testing that
detected the problem initially - how embarrassing, it
makes Canada look like a shoddy 3rd world exporter.

[kato]

ASRG - The meat will and should go to the dump, where it belongs.

smcgrath - Around here, the yearling run is over, if you can even say it happened in the first place.

gaucho - You got that right. However, a market that size that's right next door is a logical one to access. It wouldn't matter where we export to, if we put out contaminated meat, there would be the same results. The biggest problem with this thing is that XL produces such a large share of the exported beef. What's their share of the kill? 40%? 50%? More? Whatever it is, it's too much to have the reputation on a whole country's beef rest on the quality control in one plant. It's as dangerous to be dependent on one processor as it is to be dependent on one market.

grassfarmer - The fact that Americans found it first shows to me that the CFIA needs to step up to the plate and fix their priorities. I'm pretty sure they've had cutbacks, and I'm suspecting they could have made the cuts in better places than on the front line of food inspection.

[gaucho]

Kato there is more than enough testing required by CFIA and it is not cheap... The big packers mist Carcasses in the cooler so they do not loose moisture from the carcass....this is why ecoli grows on the carcass even if they have all the intervention steps (steam pasteurization and lactic acid) ... we dry chill our carcasses - 2 small incidences of ecoli confined to 2 lots in 4 years.... Grassfarmer is right.... he attitude is cheap and cheerful... fats and furious.... Why does so much beef move south? Its easy and they sell it at a discount to US beef hence a Basis... WE have not sold 1 lb in 8 years to the states and our beef is trading at a 10 positive Basis on the US Market. This is another clear example of what you get for leaving it to the big boys, who by the way would love nothing more than to see us disappear and did everything in their power to prevent me from getting on the Canada Beef Board.

[smcgrath76]

gaucho - part of the problem is that the
basis doesn't matter if you can pass it
down the chain, and obtain double the
basis on every animal on transaction
costs throughout an animal's lifetime.
I don't think XL is to blame for the
situation we are in as an industry,
although they certainly are a good
example of how to exploit a situation.
A lot of sitting on hands has definitely
led us to this point.
Kato - you are likely right about small
yearling numbers. We are seeing larger
recall effects on cull cow and bull
prices already.

[wilagro]

Worse news this morning. Now steaks...XL steaks are on the recall list. what's next?

Article in the Edmonton Journal.

[kato]

Cows dropped a good ten cents here before it even hit the news. We had to go looking to find out why it happened, and came across this story.

gaucho.. I think that wet gooey way they do their beef is horrible. All in the name of making it weigh more, I suppose? I never buy it in the store, so I can't speak for the flavour, but I sure don't like the way the steaks look on the shelf either.

We get ours done locally and it's dry aged. The way it should be IMHO. We sold some extra hamburger to my sister's friends in the city last year, and they were amazed at the quality, and that's just burger.

I don't know anything about basis and all that, but I am a cook, and I know what I like and don't like.

[wd40]

costs throughout an animal's lifetime.
I don't think XL is to blame for the
situation we are in as an industry,
although they certainly are a good
example of how to exploit a situation.

I think you could change the word "exploit" to "help "engineer"

[ALLFARMER]

Sounds like they finally shut the plant down.
License temporarily pulled.

CFIA and XL both to blame.

RCalf already blasting Canada and pointing to the
fact the US found our Canadian shoddy work.

[wilagro]

Allowing industry to "police itself" could be the root cause here. The CON government has been doing this and cutting their expenses while allowing businesses to work on the "honour system".

I would not trust ANY business involved with food production and especially with meat products to "police" itself.

Now we have another mess on our hands and everyone is running around blaming everyone else for the problem.

[kato]

R-Calf? They think they've finally found a lifeboat to cling to so they can justify their existence. No one should give them the time of day.

The news here last night consisted of two facts.

One - the recall is up to over 300 products.

Two - One of the local butcher shops has doubled it's business, and the lady they interviewed in the store told them she would prefer to buy directly from a farmer if she could. She also said she still trusted beef in general, which is a good thing.

Interesting..

Maybe it's time to change things...

[sumdumguy]

CFIA better smarten up all the way round. I
asked if they were testing imported fruits and
vegetables for pesticide residue. I was told no. I
dont trust this flimsy outfit that has such an
important role. What are they doing?

They need to get some management and take
their role seriously.

[Burbert]

Fed Gag Min RITZ says they have been
increasing funding to CFIA AND
increasing staff soos they kin due their
job better! Lying politicos, do not
help in a situation such as this. Why
don't they keep their big fat yaps shut,
or at least or stuffed with dirty beef
products that they want the public to
consume. Have a photo op, eat some of
the crappy stuff, enjoy it, set an
example fer the public. Eat sh t and
then smile a sh t eating Comedian
smile........