PITT MEADOWS, B.C. — Pitt Meadows Meats Ltd., a large Vancouver-based meat processing plant, is at the centre of allegations that lab results showing positive tests for E.coli were covered up, according to an exclusive CBC News report.
Daniel Land, who oversaw the plant’s quality assurance, contacted the CBC, saying that he was told to keep quiet about positive test results in September. According to Pitt Meadows officials, they suspected Land had tampered with the products while taking samples and say later tests were negative for the bacteria.
“Under normal circumstances, the CFIA [Canadian Food Inspection Agency] would have been informed immediately,” plant reps said in a written statement to the CBC. “But due to the suspect sample handling, the decision was made to handle this issue in-house. If the second test result would have been positive, the CFIA would have been notified immediately.”
Land maintains the second test was positive for E.coli, and when he was fired in October, he contacted the CFIA with his allegations. In November, the CFIA issued a recall.
For the complete CBC story, click here.
