Canada-More revealed about massive meat recall.

CANADA-SCANDAL OVER MAPLE LEAF FOOD POISONING.

OTTAWA — Contrary to earlier claims, the subject of Listeria was broached by federal officials and Maple Leaf Foods before a deadly outbreak last summer that was linked to tainted meat products, documents show.

Handwritten notes from a July 24, 2008, meeting indicate officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and Maple Leaf discussed "food safety in relation to Listeria," although no details about the substance of the talks were available.

The discussion took place roughly two weeks before tests linked the company’s luncheon meats to the outbreak.

Both sides had previously denied that the subject of Listeria came up at the meeting. On Tuesday, they acknowledged that it did come up, but said earlier denials were made in reference to discussion of the listeriosis outbreak itself.

Initially, they said CFIA executive vice-president Brian Evans and Maple Leaf executive Rory McAlpine discussed only the company’s hog and pork operations and trade issues.

But notes from the July meeting, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act, show that while Evans and McAlpine did talk about hog and pork operations, they also discussed "food safety in relation to Listeria."

Further information is blanked out in the documents released by the CFIA.

CFIA spokesman Tim O’Connor said Tuesday that the July 24 discussion had nothing to do with Canada’s listeriosis outbreak, but was trade related.

"(Listeria) was discussed with respect to how changes in domestic requirements have an impact on imports," he said. He declined to elaborate.

In a statement Tuesday, Evans said there was "absolutely no discussion" during the meeting about Listeria being linked to one of Maple Leaf’s Toronto processing plants.

"Discussions focused on ensuring consistency of import monitoring with other jurisdictions for microbial pathogens, including Listeria," he said.

"As the executive vice-president of CFIA, I have had countless conversations about Listeria and microbial control with industry."

McAlpine said Tuesday that he and Evans talked about U.S. standards and testing affecting the company’s exports.

The CFIA and Maple Leaf now say they initially denied Listeria came up at the July meeting because it was not mentioned in the context of Canada’s outbreak, which at that date had yet to be confirmed by lab tests.