Maple Leaf takes blame for food poison outbreak

By Leah Schnurr and Roberta Rampton

TORONTO/WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - The head of Canada's biggest meat processor said on Wednesday his company was fully accountable for a nationwide outbreak of listeriosis food poisoning, which has been linked to deaths of 15 people.

"The buck stops right here," Maple Leaf Foods Inc <MFI.TO Chief Executive told a news conference.

"We have excellent systems and processes in place but this week it's our best efforts that failed -- not the regulators, not the Canadian food safety system," McCain said.

"I emphasize this is our accountability and it's ours to fix, which we are taking on fully."

Samples of two deli meats produced at a Maple Leaf processing plant in Toronto tested positive for the same strain of listeria bacteria that has made dozens of Canadians sick this summer, including 15 people who have since died.

The company, which faces a series of class action suits, has withdrawn all 220 or so products made at the plant as a precaution in one of Canada's biggest-ever food recalls.

The meats were shipped to nursing homes and hospitals as well as to restaurants and stores.

McCain said he did not know when the company would reopen the Toronto plant, one of 23 it operates. Originally, the plant was to have reopened on Tuesday, then on Thursday.

Third-party experts were examining the plant to find the root cause of the contamination, which McCain said might not be possible to determine.

The plant, which was closed on August 20, will not reopen until that investigation is complete, he said.

Maple Leaf shares rose almost 4 percent to C$8.29 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Wednesday, but have lost more than 20 percent of their value since the recalls began on August 17.

Analysts have said the company's future will depend on its ability to regain consumer confidence.

McCain declined to provide any further details of the cost of the recall, which the company had previously put at C$20 million ($19 million). He also would not comment on whether the company had lost any contracts because of the outbreak.

SYSTEM DEFENDED

Canadian health officials defended their inspection system, which has been criticized by some members of the inspectors' union as being sparse and too reliant on industry data.