Agriculture Minister to Visit XL Foods Meat Plant [Oct. 2]

Oct 03, 2012

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz Visits Famed XL Foods Slaughterhouse

Federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz will be paying a visit to the XL Foods Inc. plant, which at the centre of the largest beef recall in Canadian history. The slaughterhouse in Brooks, Alberta was found to be the source of the E. coli tainted beef, forcing a recall of over 1.5 million pounds of beef to-date.

The beef contamination wasn’t found until 12 days later and since then there has been a series of beef recalls and a number of people have fallen ill linked to Xl Foods beef. As of Tuesday, Alberta officials have confirmed a total of 10 cases of E. coli, of which only five have been linked to the Xl Foods beef plant. While in Saskatchewan, there are a total of 13 cases, but authorities are still investigating to see whether any of them are linked to the XL foods beef recall.

Video: Exploring Precision Data in Swine Production - Dr. Janice Siegford

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show, Dr. Janice Siegford from Michigan State University discusses how precision livestock farming data can support pig health, welfare, transparency, and decision making. She explains why data ownership, privacy, consumer perception, and cost sharing must be addressed as technology becomes more common on farms. Listen now on all major platforms.

“Precision livestock farming data can support producers, veterinarians, certifiers, and consumers by enabling improved monitoring, prediction, and decision-making across the entire production system.”

Meet the guest: Dr. Janice Siegford / janice-siegford-24318839 is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Animal Science at Michigan State University. Her expertise in animal welfare, neuroscience, and zoology supports research on pig behavior, stress resilience, and precision livestock farming. Her work explores early weaning, genetics, and stakeholder perspectives on technology adoption to improve pig care, health, and productivity. Learn more from Dr. Janice Siegford on The Swine it Podcast Show, available on all major platforms.