opinion

My Two Cents About the E.Coli Related Beef Recall

 

There is no problem with the beef production sector. All the meat that arrives at the processing facility remains as healthy and delicious as ever!

There is a small problem with one plant in the beef processing sector. It’s important to remember that e.coli is natural in all food processing facilities (beef, chicken, fish, carrots, tomatoes, etc, etc). The problem with XL Foods is their monitoring processes weren’t consistent enough. It was a small processing problem that they need to correct and then it’s business as usual. The problem is the media has found a story that they can run with for a while. They are like a dog with a bone; they won’t let the story go until they have picked it clean.

The Americans banned beef from XL Foods out of convenience.  The drought in Texas last year and the mid-west this year has resulted in a surplus of slaughter cows on the market in the US.  Banning beef imports from XL Foods allows American processors to step in and supply beef to the stores who used to buy from XL Foods.  This creates a bigger demand for beef from American packers and it helps flush the American beef production / processing system.  Another reason is that the Americans are cranky the World Trade Organization over-turned their Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) legislation.  It was a big win for Canada and so when the US saw an opportunity to screw our beef industry they jumped on it with both feet.