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So, last week I had my dinner with Michael McCain, a few other folks from Maple Leaf Foods and Matchstick (a word-of-mouth marketing agency) and 22 of Southern Ontario’s best mom and dad bloggers.

I went wearing three hats. (Figuratively, of course. In actuality I was hatless.) I went as the at-home dad and head chef of a family of five with an interest in safe, healthy eating. I went as a blogger with an interest in reviewing family-friendly products (I invite PR folks to contact me on this blog for product reviews). And I went as a marketing communications practitioner (albeit, on hiatus), with a continuing interest in public relations and communications strategy.

Maple Leaf’s agenda, after a bit of friendly mingling over cold-cut-and-Dempster’s-Bread-product-based appetizers, was to present its revamped post-listeriosis-outbreak food safety process and Food Safety Pledge. The key presenters were Michael McCain (CEO) and Sharon Beals (SVP Food Safety & Quality Assurance). Their speeches were followed by participants’ questions. And because we all know how hungry people get talking about food-borne bacteria and meat plant sterilization processes, the evening would end with a meal.

I could still taste the benzene.

As Mr. McCain introduced himself and began to speak, I poured myself a glass of Perrier. My thoughts turned to Perrier’s own product recall back in 1990, when benzene was found in the water. It was that or flat bottled water imported in plastic bottles from the mountains of France.” (Are these guys following the bottled water issue at all?” I wondered aloud but just softly enough that my tablemates and the Maple Leaf guy lurking on a chair behind me could hear.) Tap water would have been fine.

“Hello. I’m Michael McCain. CEO of Maple Leaf Foods. In 2008, we killed 22 people on my watch.”

After that grim reminder, McCain went on to talk about what happened and what they’ve done to improve their process. But that phrase about 22 people was used four or five more times during the evening. What struck me was how easily it passed the lips of the Maple Leaf folks. It’s almost become a tag line. Maple Leaf Foods: We killed 22 People. The more they say it, the less shocking it seems. (If I had noticed at the time that there were 22 bloggers in the room, I may have started to get a little nervous.)

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m all for companies admitting when they’ve messed up. At the time of the outbreak crisis I admired Mr. McCain’s willingness to candidly and publicly take responsibility and apologize on national camera. And I truly believe that the crisis and deaths took a personal toll on on him and the other people at Maple Leaf. How could it not? But the Maple Leaf approach is also current textbook crisis communications. Own up. Apologize. Pull  the bandage off quickly. It’s better than the lawyers’ strategy of denial and deflection, but it’s still a strategy. And now I find it difficult not to be at least a little cynical about their attempt to rebrand themselves as the safe meat folks by influencing influencers — bloggers.

This seemed like a pretty good document until I read the very last line: "Acting with passion, conviction and personal humility, especially when delivering winning results." Hmm. Are those values less important when your results are poor?

None of this is to say Maple Leaf hasn’t worked hard to improve their Food Safety processes. They showed us they have, and Mr. McCain can be commended for his personal  involvement in that. They’ve also created some good home food safety resources for consumers that are worth reading and posting on your fridge. But for me, it’s not the bacteria issue that limits the amount of processed meats I buy for my family. It’s what I’ve been reading about nitrates and nitrites raising the level of carcinogens in meat products, which is linked to heart disease and diabetes and cancer. It’s about sodium. It’s about what I’ve been reading about BPA and bisphenol in plastics. It’s about livestock that’s raised with growth hormones and antibiotics and pesticide-treated grains (and chicken litter).

Maple Leaf has recognized that there’s a market opportunity in offering Natural Selections, a natural, preservative-free line of meats. And I’m happy about that. But according to McCain, it’s not because preservatives are dangerous; it’s because he thinks people should have a choice. When I asked McCain about nitrates, he responded that they are okay because they are naturally occurring. Um, alright, but isn’t listeria naturally occurring?

I do my best to buy and prepare healthy meals for my family. And to me, food safety is not just about bacteria and shelf life. To me, it’s also about the long-term health impacts of the product. Mr. McCain advocates balanced eating. I asked him what Maple Leaf does to educate its employees and consumers about how to eat a healthy, balanced diet. He was stumped, but thought it was a good question. Another blogger mom made an empassioned pitch that busy parents need to be able to trust food companies implicitly when it comes to food health and safety. That seemed to sink in. They’re going to play the clip for their employees.

Here, after some sober reflection, for what it’s worth, is my advice to Maple Leaf Foods:

• Quietly ensure that your meat plants are safe. Thanks for the chicken and breadsticks, and apologies to Matchstick, but forget the PR outreach to bloggers. Focus your education and communications initiatives regarding safety on your employees, suppliers, and buyers — not on the consumer. You build your image by short-term outreach initiatives. You build your reputation by establishing a long, spotless track record. Work on your reputation, not your image.
• Stop flippantly mentioning the 22 people you killed, unless you’re prepared to give them names and faces and tell us their tragic individual stories and what you’re doing to help them overcome their loss.
• Expand your Natural Selections line. Eliminate the rest.
• Become experts in nutrition and allow that expertise to change your product offerings. Hold focus groups to learn what matters to consumers (beyond safety — you already know that’s important).
• Don’t downplay and discount objective, third party nutrition studies just because they don’t match your business model. That’s old school. Educate consumers (and employees) about healthy eating. This may or may not be a responsibility for a food company, but it’s a huge opportunity.
• Hire a Chief Nutrition Officer who can ensure the long-term health impacts of your product and work to advise and educate consumers (and employees) about healthy eating.
• When you invite people to a round table, actually make the table round, and rather than giving speeches, find a way to create open dialogue. Listen at least as much as you talk.

What do you think, readers? Maple Leaf is watching and Michael McCain will be reading this personally. What are your expectations of large scale food manufacturers? Do they have a responsibility to have and share expertise in nutrition? Does Maple Leaf’s Food Safety Pledge impress you? What about their strategy of reaching out to bloggers? Will this be the last time I’m invited to a blogger “round” table?

And if you’re reading this from a desk at Maple Leaf, here are some more questions for you:

• What has your company done for the 22 families who lost loved ones to listeriosis?
• What impact has increased scrutiny on safety had on smaller, responsible operators with easier plants to clean, but who don’t have the deep pockets of Maple Leaf to deal with more testing and regulations?
• Also, take a good look at your Chief Food Safety Officer Dr. Randy Huffman’s response to this commenter on your food safety blog and think about the myriad reasons why a consumer might not be very happy with it — feel free to contact me if you can’t figure it out.

P.s. To edathomedad, who wanted me to ask about whether big industry meat processing is just too big to be safe, Mr. McCain’s view is that bigger is better. Large, centralized plants are the best way to ensure standardized practices. Yes, well, that answer kind of works in his favour, doesn’t it? Economies of scale and all that? To me, the bigger the plant and the larger the equipment, the greater possibility of what he called “harbourage points” — hidden areas where contamination collects. But I’m not the safety expert.

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