Listeriosis Prevention

Below I have listed some of the ways that we can help prevent listeriosis, the illness that is the result of the listeria bacteria. I hope that following these precautions when dealing with foods will help reduce the levels of bacteria in our homes.

Clean:

·         Make sure to wash hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds before and after handling food

·         Clean cutting boards, dishes, utensils, and countertops with hot soapy water after they have come in connection with raw meat.

·         Wash raw food with water

·         Wipe up spills in refrigerator straightaway and sanitize regularly

Separate:

·         Raw meat, chicken, and seafood can contain harmful bacteria, separate from other products

·         Cut these items on separate cutting board than uses for produce

·         Separate plates should be used for raw foods, cooked foods, and ready-to-eat foods

Cook:

·         Heat foods to the proper temperature, this will help kill harmful bacteria. Check temperature with clean food thermometer.

·         Make certain eggs are firm

·         Fish should be dense and flaky

·         Leftovers should be reheated to 165 degrees

Chill:

·         Refrigerator temperature must be at 4 degrees Celsius

·         Store perishable foods, precooked or ready-to-eat, at 4 degrees Celsius, eat them a.s.a.p.

·         Refrigerate or freeze perishables within two hours of consumption or preparation

 





References:

  Food Facts. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/Food/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/ucm079667.htm

Guffey, M. R. (2011). Maple Leaf Foods - Rebounding From Tragedy. Business Communication. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.

 

Safety At Maple Leaf Foods

Maple Leaf Foods has committed itself to preventing an incident like the one of 2008 from ever happening again. The company has doubled testing and improved its exploration of the results. The crisis was damaging for the company. It resulted in a 27 million dollar lawsuit. The company settled with the families of the victims in December of 2008.

Maple Leaf Foods has continued to rebound from the tragedy. Even the slice meat that was at the root of the listeriosis crisis has rebounded. They used price discounting and coupons to get people to buy the products. This resulted in reduced profit margins.

Michael McCain

"It's blindingly clear that Maple Leaf was responsible for the loss of 21 lives," McCain told a meeting of The Toronto Star's editorial board. "I felt that personally." The CEO admits that the company did not analysis the results of the internal listeria tests rigorously enough. 2008 was the worst year in the company's history.

Trust, transparency, credibility, commitment, and honesty are the attributes that Maple Leaf Foods used to rebound from the 2008 tragedy. When the company realized the cases of listeriosis were the result of cold cuts from their Toronto plant they shut the plant down. Michael McCain, president, gave a heartfelt apology. He confirmed the company’s commitment to food quality. The public appreciated the trustworthiness and credibility. The video helped people to feel more positive toward the company.

By taking responsibility for the disaster I believe the company was able to gain the support of the public. If the company would have chosen to divert the blame, to the government for not having stricter laws involving food regulations, the public would have not have been so responsive to Maple Leaf Foods. They made the issue more human ,not so corporate.

http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/research/leadership/news-and-events/events/2012/culture-waterstone-mlf.pdf

http://www.mapleleaf.com/en/market/food-safety/food-safety-at-maple-leaf/food-safety-pledge/


References:

Health officials probe more deaths, advise tossing suspect meat. (2008). CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2008/08/21/listeriosis.html

Guffey, M. R. (2011). Maple Leaf Foods - Rebounding From Tragedy. Business Communication. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.

Maple Leaf Foods Apologizes

CEO Michael McCain of Maple Leaf Foods took full responsibility for the listeria outbreak of 2008. The company continues to be proactive. When Michael spoke to a parliamentary committee responsible for examining food safety, he told them "This was a defining moment for Maple Leaf Foods and for those who work there. We are determined to make a terrible wrong, right. This is our obligation to those who died, and their families."

Since the outbreak Maple Leaf Foods has become a leader in food safety. The company is trying to convince the Canadian government to implement stricter food regulations. Michael recognizes that his company will have to continue to strive to mend the bridge between themselves and the public. Maple Leaf Foods must continue to focus on their main principles of honesty, transparency, and public service. If they cannot accomplish this the government will have to become more involved in food regulations.

The fact that Maple Leaf Foods took responsibility for the crisis of 2008 was a good marketing strategy. Instead of trying to hide away or avoid the issue they hit it head on. Accepting and apologizing, gave the public an opportunity to be more patient of the part the company played in the crisis. 





References:

Guffey, M. R. (2011). Maple Leaf Foods - Rebounding From Tragedy. Business Communication. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.

 How Maple Leaf Foods is handling the Listeria outbreak. (2008). CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2008/08/27/f-crisisresponse.html

 

Reputation

 

 

 

Dave Scholz, vice president of Leger Marketing, was correct in his claim that Maple Leaf Foods would rebound from the negative publicity.

Maple Leaf Foods is one of our oldest and most recognizable companies. This tragedy resulted in a public relations nightmare for the organization. This caused a loss of reputation which in turn resulted in a loss in business. Maple Leaf Foods' commitment to finding ways to redeem themselves and their products is a major reason that they were able to mend their reputation.

In January of 2009, their reputation was finally starting to rise when there was another recall. They then had to attempt to once again gain positive support from customers and rebuild customer trust.

The components that have aided Maple Leaf Foods to mend customer relationships are trust, clarity, credibility, assurance, and morality.

I feel that Maple Leaf Foods should have done more at the beginning when they knew that they had listeria in the plant. According to the video above, yes they did clean the machinery that tested positive for listeria but because they were not required to test the food they did not. I feel that they should have tested the food out of concern for their customers. The death's that were attributed to the tainted food could have possibly been prevented if stronger precautions were implemented.

 

References:

Guffey, M. R. (2011). Maple Leaf Foods - Rebounding From Tragedy. Business Communication. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.

Dealing with Tradegy in Business

 

In 2007, Menu Foods, a Canadian company, based out of Streetsville, ON was involved in the largest recall of pet food in  United States history. In 2008, Maple Leaf Foods, another Canadian company, was involved in the listeria outbreak, the worst case of food borne illness in Canadian history. So why it is that Maple Leaf Foods is still in business whereas Menu Foods no longer exists? The reason for this is the way the company dealt with the tainted food issue.

Menu Foods manufactured pet food products for many suppliers in both Canada and the US. In March of 2007 they were forced to recall 60 million cans of tainted pet food. This was the result of dogs and cats suffering kidney problems or dying after eating their food. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had found melamine in the wheat gluten that was imported from China and used in the pet food. Melamine is used in the production of plastic and is definitely not approved for pet food.

Many pet owners were extremely upset because they had lost their pet or had to pay out a lot of money for veterinary bills. They were also scared of losing their pet, a valued member of the family. They did not like the fact that it took Menu Foods so long to start recalling the food and that the company did not have stricter quality controls measures.

The company set up a hot line and had over 300,000 complaints. People felt that the company was not very responsive to their complaints. They also felt that the company was not taking responsibility for what had happened. The result was a class action lawsuit costing millions of dollars, a loss of revenue of millions of dollars, and the company being sold to Simmons food.

I have a beautiful little Shih Tzu named Daisy. I know that if anything were to happen to her my heart would be broken. I feel that Menu Foods should have had stricter regulations on the ingredients that were used in their pet food. I believe that what they did was wrong and they were punished justly.

References:

  Pet food recall widens after FDA finds unusual chemical. (2007). CBC News. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2007/03/30/pet-food-070330.html

McCormick, L. (2007). Pet Food Importer Blames Its Chinese Supplier. Consumer Affairs. Retrieved from www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/04/pet_food_recall27.html

   McCormick, L. (2008). Menu Foods Settles Pet Food Class Action. Consumer Affairs. Retrieved from www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2008/04/pet_food_recalls91.html

   Menu Foods Ltd. To be acquired by Simmons Pet Food. (2010). Toronto Star. Retrieved from http://ww.thestar.com/business/article/845446
 
Guffey,M.&Rhodes, K.&Rogin, P.(2011). Business Communication:Process and Product. Toronto,ON. Nelson Education Ltd.