XL Foods
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XL Foods Inc. is a Canadian meat packing company. The company is a subsidiary of Nilsson Brothers Inc. based in Edmonton, Alberta. XL Foods' Lakeside Packers Division is located just west of Brooks, Alberta, in Newell County. This facility is the second largest beef-processing operation in Canada.[1] The company is by far the largest employer in Brooks, employing more than 2,200 people in 2012.[2]
History
XL Foods grew from a collection of ranches, feedlots and feed mills into one of the foremost Canadian-owned and operated beef processors in Western Canada. Nilsson Bros. reached an agreement to purchase the core beef assets, along with the company name, on November 22, 1998. In 2009, XL Foods bought Lakeside Packers from its U.S. parent company Tyson Foods[3], following a bitter strike at Lakeside that lasted through most of 2005 after the workers joined the United Food and Commercial Workers labour union.
XL Lakeside shutdown
XL Foods was temporarily closed on September 27, 2012, by order of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency due to E. coli being discovered in processed meat originating from the plant. The plant was testing incorrectly for E. coli in meat, so the testing procedures were made more stringent. The plant processes between 2000 and 5000 cattle per day,[4][5] representing approximately one-third of Canada's 2012 beef slaughtering capacity.[6]
According to American regulators and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, testing practices in place at the plant were not stringent enough to protect consumers from the E. coli contamination. [7] The incident has also been linked to increased production at the plant during the time when the E. coli was detected.
On October 18, 2012, it was announced that the XL Lakeside plant was to be taken over by JBS USA for 60 days with "an exclusive option to buy the Canadian and U.S. operations of XL Foods".[8]
References
- ^ "South Korea lifts 9-year import ban on Canadian beef". Reuters Canada. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
- ^ http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Foods+workers+Brooks+await+news+plant+licence+pulled/7311361/story.html
- ^ http://www.xllakeside.com/docs/Release022709.pdf
- ^ Wood, Damien. "Brooks XL Foods beef plant shut down for E. coli scare creates cattle backlog". Sun Media. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ "XL Foods beef recall expanded, Premier Redford defends Alberta beef". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
- ^ http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/09/29/edmonton-xl-foods-recall-expanded.html
- ^ Vancouver SunXL Foods testing not stringent enough, says expert Retrieved (10-02-12)
- ^ "Union for XL Foods workers weighs in on new managers". CBC. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
External links
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