In 2008, Maple Leaf Foods had a devastating outbreak caused by Listeria contamination at one of its prepared meats facilities. It resulted in 23 deaths and many serious illnesses. Since this tragedy, Maple Leaf Foods has committed to becoming a global leader in food safety and has invested significant people and financial resources in achieving this commitment.

Maple Leaf Foods is a leading consumer protein company, making high-quality, innovative products under national brands including Maple Leaf^®, Maple Leaf Prime^®, Maple Leaf Natural Selections^®, Schneiders^®, Schneiders^® Country Naturals^®, Mina^®, Lightlife^™, and Field Roast Grain Meat Co. ^™.

Maple Leaf is one of Canada’s flagship food companies, with sales of $3.3 billion dollars, employing approximately 11,500 people and does business in Canada, the U.S., and Asia. Maple Leaf is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario.

Michael McCain, President, and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods and Randy Huffman, Chief Food Safety and Sustainability Officer.

Michael has devoted his career to the food industry, starting at McCain Foods in the late 1970's where he held a variety of roles, including President and Chief Executive Officer of McCain Foods USA.  He joined Maple Leaf Foods in 1995. Since then, he has been instrumental in establishing Maple Leaf as a strong and sustainable, values-based company with leading brands and a bold vision for the future.

Dr. Randy Huffman joined Maple Leaf in 2009 and is currently Chief Food Safety and Sustainability Officer at the company.  This role encompasses Food Safety and Quality, Occupational Health, Safety and Security, Environmental Sustainability and Compliance, Animal Care and Corporate Engineering.  

Randy also leads the company's Food Safety Advisory Council, a team of external experts with the mandate to increase Maple Leaf's access to global knowledge and expertise in food safety, including best practices, regulatory compliance, microbiology, and fostering a food safety culture.

Prior to joining Maple Leaf Foods, Dr. Huffman served as President of the American Meat Institute (AMI) Foundation, as well as Senior Vice President Scientific Affairs for 9 years at AMI. 

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Maple Leaf executives—Michael McCain and Randy Huffman about:

• What food safety processes and programs Maple Leaf had in place at the time of the 2008 listeriosis outbreak
• How complacency played a part in Maple Leaf's food safety crisis
• The steps Maple Leaf took in the hours, days, and weeks after learning of multiple illnesses and deaths
• How the tragedy led Maple Leaf to make a long-term food safety commitment to be a world leader in the food industry
• How Maple Leaf's story can help other food companies improve and avoid a similar situation
• What is believed to be the root cause of Maple Leaf's outbreak
• The consequences of not properly addressing positive environmental results
• The benefits of implementing a "seek and destroy" strategy
• Staying on top of food safety and swab results with a daily conference call that includes executive leadership
• The critical importance of segregation in ready-to-eat processing facilities
• What Maple Leaf might do differently if an outbreak or recall were to occur today
• The establishment of the Food Safety Advisory Council in 2009
• How they commemorate the outbreak every August, particularly marking the 10-year anniversary in 2018
• The 10th annual Food Safety Symposium

Resources:
Maple Leaf Food Safety Symposium
Free eBook Download - Exclusive Food Safety Culture Collection

Richard (Rick) Stier, M.S. is a consulting food scientist who has helped food processors develop safety, quality, and sanitation programs. He believes in emphasizing the importance of how these programs can help companies increase profits. Rick comes from a family background in food science, with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) establishing an award in his mother's name—the Humanitarian Award for Service to the Science of Food in honor of Elizabeth Fleming Stier. Rick holds degrees in food science from Rutgers University and the University of California at Davis. He is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Food Safety Magazine.

Claire Sand, Ph.D. is a global packaging leader with 40 years of experience in food science and packaging. As founder of Packaging Technology and Research LLC, her mission is to enable a more sustainable food system by advancing innovations that extend food shelf life and reduce waste.

Dr. Sand specializes in leading cross-functional teams, developing technology strategies, and creating implementation roadmaps for complex packaging challenges across the value chain. With over 150 publications to her credit, she is a regular contributor to leading food science and packaging publications and has held adjunct faculty positions at Michigan State University and California Polytechnic State University.

Kathleen Sanzo, J.D. is Co-Chair of Morgan Lewis' life sciences industry team. She centers her practice on regulatory and compliance issues connected to U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-regulated products. She leads and counsels clients on all legal and regulatory issues concerning food, dietary supplements, and cosmetic product manufacture, approval, marketing, and distribution; food, drug, and device compliance and enforcement matters; and consumer product issues regulated by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and state enforcement agencies, among other areas. A frequent author and co-author on publications related to FDA matters, Kathleen regularly speaks on these issues at industry events. She serves as Vice Chair of the Consumer Product Regulation Committee of the American Bar Association Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice, and is a member of the Food and Drug Law Institute's Medical Products Committee.

Campbell Mitchell, M.B.A. is Head of Food Safety and Compliance for Kraft Heinz North America. He has more than 30 years of international experience in food safety, quality management, and risk mitigation. Prior to joining Kraft Heinz, Campbell served as Vice President of Quality and Safety at Fairlife LLC, a $4-billion Coca-Cola-owned dairy brand. He has also held senior leadership roles with Kerry Group and Almarai in the Middle East. Additionally, he founded a consultancy that supported Tiger Brands in Africa.

Helena Bottemiller Evich is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Food Fix. She previously led coverage of food and agriculture at POLITICO for nearly a decade, winning numerous awards for her work, including a prestigious George Polk Award for a series on climate change and two James Beard Awards for features on nutrition and science. In 2022, she was a James Beard Award finalist for a deep dive on diet-related diseases and COVID-19. Helena is also a sought-after speaker and commentator on food issues, appearing on CNN, MSNBC, CBS, BBC, NPR, and other outlets. Her work is widely cited in the media and has also been published in the Columbia Journalism Review and on NBC News.

Frank Yiannas, M.P.H. is a renowned food safety leader and executive, food system futurist, author, professor, past president of the International Association of Food Protection (IAFP), and advocate for consumers. Most recently, he served under two different administrations as the Deputy Commissioner for Food Policy and Response at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a position he held from 2018–2023, after spending 30 years in leadership roles with Walmart and the Walt Disney Company.

Drew McDonald is the Senior Vice President of Quality and Food Safety at Taylor Fresh Foods in Salinas, California, where he oversees the quality and food safety programs across the foodservice, retail, and deli operations under both FDA and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) jurisdictions. Mr. McDonald works with an impressive team developing and managing appropriate and practical quality and food safety programs for fresh food and produce products. He has more than 30 years of experience in fresh produce and fresh foods.

John Besser, Ph.D. worked for ten years as Deputy Chief of the Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where he was involved in national and global programs to detect, characterize, and track gastrointestinal diseases. Prior to CDC, Dr. Besser led the infectious disease laboratory at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) for 19 years and served as a clinical microbiologist at the University of Minnesota Hospital for five years. He currently works as an independent contractor and consultant. Dr. Besser is the author or co-author of more than 70 publications. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. degree from the University of Minnesota.

Craig Hedberg, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences at the University of Minnesota and Co-Director of the Minnesota Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence. He promotes public health surveillance as a prerequisite for effective food control, and his work focuses on improving methods for collaboration among public health and regulatory agencies, academic researchers, and industry to improve foodborne illness surveillance and outbreak investigations.