Saturday, June 4, 2016

People sickened by Neilson’s milk

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says people have been sickened by Listeria monocytogenes bacteria in partly-skimmed chocolate milk from the Neilson’s Dairy plant near Toronto.

There is a recall for the product with a June 1 date on the clip and inner bag.

The plant is one of the newest in Ontario, but has been plagued by issues since its owner, Loblaws, opened it. In the early going, thousands of gallons of spoiled milk were dumped to a Waterloo-area farm where it was processed into animal feed.

In 2008 Loblaws sold the plant to current owner, Saputo Inc., which is Canada’s largest dairy company.

The CFIA indicates the Listeria survived in the milk because of inadequate pasteurization.

There is no indication from the CFIA whether it has ordered the plant shut down for a thorough cleaning and disinfection.


That was eventually needed with Listeria contaminated meat products processed at a plant Maple Leaf Foods Inc. operated near Toronto. Twenty-two people died then.