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
Christopher R. Daubert, Ph.D., serves as the President of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and as the Vice Chancellor and Dean of the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at the University of Missouri (Mizzou), as well as a Professor in the Division of Food Systems and Bioengineering. He joined Mizzou from North Carolina State University, where he served as a Professor and Head of the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Services; Director of the Food Rheology Laboratory; and system Co-Chair of Food, Biochemical, and Engineered Systems. His research explained the physical chemistry, molecular-level interactions, and functionality of food systems through an understanding of rheological behavior, while solving problems facing the food and pharmaceutical industries.
Alex Truelove has served as Legislation and Advocacy Manager at BPI (Biodegradable Plastics Institute) since 2022. He previously directed U.S. PIRG's (Public Interest Research Group's) zero-waste program. He remains passionate about waste reduction, public policy, and working with others to incrementally solve messy environmental problems.
To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2025 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with Sharon Beals, Founder, SKKB; Peter Taormina, Ph.D., Founder and President, Etna Consulting Group; Sandra Eskin, J.D., CEO, STOP Foodborne Illness; John O'Fallon, Senior Manager Environmental Sensors, Zebra Technologies; and Monica Khoury, Senior Quality Expert, Nestlé; Lily Yasuda, Program Manager, Alliance to Stop Foodborne Illness.
To get a taste of the discussions that were happening at the 2025 Food Safety Summit, we spoke face-to-face with keynote speaker Jason Evans, Ph.D., Dean, College of Food Innovation and Technology, Johnson & Wales University; as well as Brian Ronholm, M.A., Director of Food Policy, Consumer Reports; Michael Fang, Co-Founder, Spectacular Labs; and Steven Lyon, Ph.D., Director, Food Safety—Field Operations, Chick-fil-A Inc.; Purni Wickramasinghe, Ph.D., Food Safety & Restaurant Solutions, Chick-fil-A Inc.
Christian Ararat, M.Sc., M.Eng. is a food safety professional with more than ten years of experience in food safety and quality. After earning a bachelor's degree in Food Science from Valley University in Colombia, he began his career in the bakery industry, where he implemented and enforced good manufacturing practices (GMPs) and prerequisite programs. After moving to Canada, Christian joined Natursource Inc., a Montreal-based food manufacturing company dedicated to producing healthy snacks.
Savannah Applegate, Ph.D. is a Senior Consultant at Elanco Poultry Food Safety. Dr. Applegate received her B.S. degree in Meat Science from Ohio State University and her M.S. degree and Ph.D. in Applied Food Microbiology from Texas Tech University. Her areas of expertise are meat and poultry food safety, and she specializes in diagnostics and pathogen mitigation.
