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

In this bonus episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Jenny Du, Ph.D., Co-Founder of Apeel Sciences, about Apeel—a clean alternative to traditional post-harvest produce coatings and treatments—its transparent approach to disrupting an $11 billion industry.

In this episode of Food Safety Matters, we speak to Sandro Tarchini of the Cardano Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing the blockchain ecosystem, about the applications for blockchain throughout the food supply chain and how it can improve farm-to-retail traceability and transparency.

Suzette Stalker is Director of FSQA Program Compliance at FreshRealm Inc. Formerly, she served as Director of Food Safety, Quality, and Regulatory compliance at Target Corporation. At Target, Suzette was responsible for food safety standards and programs, covering nearly 2,000 stores and more than 60 supply chain facilities. Her work encompassed owned brand supplier manufacturing facilities, product labeling, produce farms, supply chain facilities, retail stores, and managing food recalls. Previously, Suzette led teams to develop and execute comprehensive internal audits of food safety and operational risks across Target. 

Sabrina Terada is the Manager for Food Safety Risk Management and Measurement at Yum! Brands. She is a seasoned professional in food safety and quality assurance with extensive experience at Yum! Brands, where her roles have included Manager of Global Food Safety Risk Management and Measurement and Manager of Global FSQA. In these positions, Sabrina held responsibilities supporting the Food Safety Governance Framework, coaching, and assisting business units with crisis management. 

Chris McGarvey is the Director of the Regulatory and Compliance Team for Walker Morris LLP in the UK. He has more than 25 years of experience working in both the private and public sector, and has a track record of helping clients navigate complex legal challenges in areas of highly regulated economic activity. Chris specializes in food law and led the Food Standards Agency's (FSA's) Legal Team through Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic, and supply chain challenges associated with the Ukraine conflict. Chris' typical clients are Directors, Senior Managers, and specialists, particularly food scientists, who demand quick, accessible, and accurate advice. His work often has national reach and spans all four nations of the UK.

Kye Luker serves as the Chief Product Officer at FlexXray, where he leads development of the company's innovative X-ray inspection process and technology. With more than two decades of experience in the service, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and food and beverage industries, Kye brings a wealth of knowledge in continuous improvement, quality assurance, and formulations to his role.

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.