According to an editorial in the St. John’s Telegram in Newfoundland (that’s in Canada), documents show an appalling disregard for public health and safety Country Ribbon chicken processing facility in St. John’s. They also show the length some companies will go to flout the rules and deceive the public.
In October 2014, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) ordered the to shut down.
At the time, Country Ribbon’s CEO said the problem was a minor paperwork issue related to its “hazard analysis and critical control points program.”
“We’ve made a lot of improvements in our program, but there were some improvements to the written part of our program and the administration that CFIA wanted to see, and they set a deadline for us to have those completed,” Ian Pittman told The Telegram.
But according to documents obtained by the CBC, inspectors found a recurring lack of sanitation and presence of salmonella on subsequent visits leading up to the October closure.
Given such damning revelations, most businesses would go out of their way to apologize to customers for failing to meet adequate safety standards.
Instead, Pittman opted to send an astoundingly dismissive statement to CBC.
“There is no new information to add since the resolution of the matter last fall,” he said.
“(We) remain committed to continuing to provide safe, quality products to our customers.”
If they really are committed, it appears that may be a first.
