meat caused a listeriosis outbreak, which resulted in the deaths of 23 Canadians. Immediately after the outbreak, both industry and government began to examine how they could work to prevent such an outbreak in the future, and to minimize harm when food contamination occurs. At the federal level, each of the organizations responsible for food safety and foodborne illness events—the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)—implemented an action plan to strengthen its response to outbreaks of foodborne illness.Because of the serious nature of the listeriosis outbreak, the Government of Canada also asked Ms. Sheila Weatherill to lead an independent investigation into the circumstances of the outbreak and to make recommendations to strengthen the food safety system.
