CALGARY- The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is set to determine if the company responsible for a widespread beef recall is allowed to start producing beef again.
XL Foods in Brooks, Alta. has been shut down since an E. coli outbreak was linked to the plant, but is asking for a reinstatement of its licence, saying it is ready to resume operations.
On Tuesday, officials from the CFIA will inspect the plant and determine if the company has corrected all of its problems by conducting an on-site assessment.
“CFIA inspectors will verify that sanitary conditions of both the slaughter and processing areas of the plant including all equipment meet all the requirements of Canada’s meat inspection regulations,” said Dr. Harpreet Kochhar, executive director of western operations.
He explained the assessment was scheduled after XL Foods requested its licence be reinstated.
“The company has indicated to us in a written request for reinstatement of their license - which was temporarily suspended as of September 27 - so that is the reason why we're looking at that possibility,” explained Dr. Kochhar.
During a news conference on Monday, the agency confirmed that more than 20 countries have received products from XL Foods, including Hong Kong which is just the latest to issue a recall. The U.S. estimates 1.3 million kilograms of beef from the plant were exported into that country.
The number of E. coli cases in Canada continues to increase, with the total now at 11 in four provinces. There are seven in Alberta, two in Quebec, one in Newfoundland and a new case in British Columbia.
The CFIA says it does not know how long the inspection and evaluation of the XL Foods plant will take.
With files from Gary Bobrovitz
© Global News. A division of Shaw Media Inc., 2012.