And will you be having the nitrates or the botulism with that bacon, sir?
Michael McCain, the CEO of Maple Leaf Foods and a family member and shareholder in the McCain Foods empire, has invited me to dinner. That’s right. A few months with a blog and this at-home dad is already hobnobbing with Canada’s corporate elite.
Okay, well, it wasn’t a personal invitation or anything. I guess, more specifically, I’ve been invited by Maple Leaf’s social media agency, Matchstick, along with a number of other bloggers (or “influencers”) to be part of a round table discussion. But Mr. McCain will be there, and he’s prepared to take my questions (and yours) about their approach to food safety.
If you’re not familiar with the Maple Leaf story (my dear American readers), Maple Leaf Foods is trying to rebuild its reputation after being at the centre of a bacteria outbreak in 2008 that took the lives of 22 Canadians. In fact, if you’re from Canada, you really can’t hear the term “listeriosis outbreak” without picturing the Maple Leaf logo or the brand’s stalwart spokesperson Mr. McCain.
Since the 2008 recall, Maple Leaf has of course been working hard to restore its reputation by setting new standards in food safety and nutrition. What else could they do? And I guess over a little light dinner conversation I’ll learn just how hard they’ve been working. But I can’t help but feel a bit weird about this. I mean, after people have died from eating your product, what’s the proper amount of time to wait before engaging in strategic, cutting-edge marketing practices? It feels a little like “how soon should you wait to start dating again after your spouse dies?” Times 22. Maybe that should be my first question — although, technically, I guess it’s more a matter of etiquette than food safety.
What questions would you have? Please send them along and I’ll share any responses I get in a follow-up post.
Here’s a little background information for you.
The following video was posted to YouTube 10 months ago to outline the company’s newfound dedication to food safety. Another product recall happened just a couple of weeks later due to listeriosis contamination.
And here’s an interesting editorial from Andre Picard about a government-commissioned investigative review that was completed in the summer of 2009.
And, finally, here’s a story about processed meats that was in the news just yesterday. It seems the nitrates and nitrites injected into processed meats to keep us safe from botulism are causing cancer. Now picture me at the meat counter weighing botulism in one hand and cancer in the other and trying to decide which I’d prefer. (Incidentally, the easy answer is whichever contains more bacon.)
So, happy reading, and please pass along any questions you may have for Mr. McCain. I’ll do my best to ask them, even though I may be seated at the far end of the table.
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Thanks for the comment and question, Ed. I was thinking of that question myself. Are the big food companies just too big to make safe food? Maple Leaf’s latest commercial for their all-natural line shows an old timey butcher in a striped apron serving up fresh cold cuts to a child. But I bet he covers that apron with a full plastic body suit, surgical mask and helmet before he goes into the plant.
I don’t know about you, but this video about their sanitary processes actually turns me off their product.
Before my daughter and since I have always been very concerned with what type of food we are giving her. I have read various book and watched an assortment of documentaries. Many of the processes they use in mass food production is just scary. When I do have to go to the grocery store I tend to stick to the rule of five by Michael Pollan. If it has more than five ingredients and if they have ingredients you don’t recognize then don’t but it. With big industry practices can they really make our food safer?
Wow, this is a bizarre coincidince. I was invited to the Maple Leafe Roundtable here in Vancouver and I asked about nitrates. I was wondering why that question triggered Sharon, the Food Safety gal, so quickly. Now I know why, lol!
The nitrates lead to a lot of Migranes for my brother so we didn’t have a lot of processed meat. that has lead me to not serve it for my kids, but not because of any socially responsible decision on our part
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