Maple Leaf Foods appoints food safety council

Dec. 10, 2009, TORONTO – Maple Leaf Foods has established a Food Safety Advisory Council, a team of independent experts that will increase the company's access to global knowledge and expertise in areas of food safety practices, microbiology, technology and public health.

The move comes a year after more than 20 Canadians died from listeriosis linked to Maple Leaf meat products.

The council, which includes Maple Leaf's chief food safety officer Dr. Randall Huffman, will advise senior leaders in all areas of food safety. The following individuals have been appointed to the council:

    –   Dr. Harvey Anderson, director, Program in Food Safety, Nutrition and
        Regulatory Affairs and Professor, Nutritional Sciences, Physiology
        and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto;
    –   Professor Colin Dennis, chairman, Industry Advisory Group,
        International Agri-Technology Centre Ltd., and retired director-
        general of the Campden, BRI food research centre in the U.K.;
    –   Dr. Mansel Griffiths, Director of the Canadian Research Institute for
        Food Safety and Chair of the Masters Program in Food Safety at the
        University of Guelph;
    –   Dr. R. Bruce Tompkin, a microbiologist with more than 45 years in the
        food processing industry and one of the developers of HACCP; and
    –   John Weisgerber, former director of quality for a major North
        American meat processor with nearly 40 years experience in quality
        and food safety management.

"The primary mandate of the council is to challenge the status quo of Maple Leaf's food safety program so we continue to raise the bar ever higher," said Huffman. "These individuals bring immense food safety knowledge to the council and will support our commitment to becoming a global food safety leader."

The council will focus on three key areas in its first year:

    –   Perform ongoing critical reviews of the company's food safety
        strategy that will include recommendations on additions or
        modifications to advance Maple Leaf's programs
    –   Provide insights on any global emerging food safety risks
    –   Provide guidance on Maple Leaf's employee training and education
        programs