This Barbecue Season, make your Burgers or Wieners Well Done

Guelph, ONMaple Leaf products may be contaminated with listeria monocytogenes bacteria again, another foodborne illness , about one year after the company's listeriosis crisis that prompted Canada's nationwide recall and linked to the deaths of 22 Canadians. These latest affected products—9 varieties of wieners—were recalled after the company detected bacteria through a "second, more aggressive test," reported the Globe and Mail. Which leads to the question: has the bacteria always been present and it just wasn't detected?

According to Randall Huffman of Maple Leaf Foods, some hot dogs were sent to stores after passing a primary food safety test but before the second test. It sounds like the best that can be hoped for is that, by stepping up safety inspections, listeria and other potentially harmful bacteria will be detected more often. But is that good enough?

"There is no such thing as 100- percent safe foods," said Mansel Griffiths, professor of food science at the University of Guelph and director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety. He said that most people can tolerate small amounts of listeria and other bacteria without falling ill, but people who are pregnant, elderly of have weak immune systems should avoid eating ready-to-eat meats.

What Consumers Can Do

Some people eat prepared meats, including hotdogs, right out of the package. However, hotdogs should be cooked thoroughly and people who may be at risk or even concerned should reheat deli meats until they are steaming hot. Killing bacteria by cooking at high heat applies to other foodborne bacteria such as E.coli, which is often associated with uncooked hamburger meat.

Should we just resign ourselves to the fact that our food supply contains an inherent risk? Absolutely not. As consumers, we should demand that the food industry do more than "primary food safety tests" before the product reaches consumers. And better controls should be in place to ensure food quality given to animals and stringent on-farm food safety programs. As well, better tracking of foodborne illness could feasibly determine if certain foods pose more of a risk to the consumer. Perhaps more lawsuits are necessary…

To date, there have been no reported illnesses from the latest recalled products. The affected products include nine varieties of Shopsy's, Hygreade and Maple Leaf brand wieners.