Meals at area detention centres could be affected
Cassandra Drudi, The Ottawa CitizenPublished: Sunday, November 23, 2008
Inmates at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre and six other correctional facilities in Ontario have been warned that they may have been exposed to listeria after a food sample from the facility that makes meals for the correctional institutions tested positive for the bacterium.
On Friday, Eurest Dining Services, the operator of the correctional services food production facility located on the grounds of the Maplehurst Correctional Centre in Milton, Ont., informed the Halton Region Health Department that a sample of food had tested positive for listeria monocytogenes. The samples were taken from food that may have been consumed between Nov. 13 and 16.
In a news release issued late yesterday afternoon, Dr. David Williams, the province's acting chief medical officer of health, asked individuals who were incarcerated at the seven institutions between Nov. 13 and 16 to seek medical attention if they develop symptoms of listeriosis, which include vomiting, nausea, diarrhea and severe headache.
Staff at the seven affected correctional facilities were notified last night, said Stuart McGetrick, spokesman for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. Notices about the potential listeria exposure have been posted in places where staff and inmates can see them, and inmates have been told to tell staff if they have any concerns.
"We've done everything we can to make sure staff and inmates are informed," Mr. McGetrick said.
The ministry has also stopped serving any food from the production facility as a precautionary measure.
The facility provides 9,000 meals each day to about 4,500 inmates at seven of the province's 31 correctional facilities. Meals made at the facility are frozen and sent to the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre, the Maplehurst Correctional Centre and Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, the Central North Correctional Centre in Penetanguishene, the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, the St. Lawrence Valley Correctional Centre and Treatment Centre in Brockville and the Brockville Jail.
While the production facility prepares and implements a plan to sanitize the plant and equipment, Eurest has acquired meals from other producers.
"There's been no interruption at all in meal service to the inmates," Mr. McGetrick said.
Earlier this year, listeriosis outbreak at Maple Leaf Foods sparked a nationwide recall of deli meats.
© The Ottawa Citizen 2008
