Names of Facilities With Bad Meat Now Listed

All five regional health authorities in B.C. have released the names of facilities where meat products linked to a nationwide outbreak of listeriosis were served.

Lists of the facilities have been posted on the websites of the regional health authorities. Provincial authorities say they plan to review food supply policies in light of the Maple Leaf Foods meat recall of meats linked to the listeriosis outbreak.

Vancouver Coastal Health said none of the tainted meat products were served at its hospitals, but meats on an expanded, precautionary recall list were served at some of its licensed facilities.

Fraser Health Authority spokesman Savik Sidhu said 42 of that region's 1,900 facilities were affected by the recall.

"From our end, we had a couple of media calls yesterday and in the interest of transparency and honesty, we tracked down the information and made it available."

A statement on the Interior Health authority website said 20 facilities were affected by the recall. In the Northern Health region, 22 hospitals, care homes, and assisted living facilities served the recalled products.

Vancouver Island Health had already released the names of its 14 facilities that received the recalled meat.

Regional reviews of current food buying and serving practices are underway and B.C. Healthy Living Minister Mary Polak said provincial reviews are also being planned.

Each facility's response to the listeriosis outbreak will be looked at to see how food policies can be improved, said Polak.

"What we need to do is ensure that our inspection processes are adequate. We need to ensure that our food-handling processes are adequate, and that's the kind of thing we'll be depending on the professionals who conduct the review to advise us upon."