War of words erupts over recalled beef comments on Twitter
Posted Oct 22, 2012 8:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A political battle is brewing over comments made by Alberta opposition leader, Danielle Smith.
On her Twitter page, Smith agreed with comments from another person about tainted beef being taken to the Brooks dump by the truckload.
She said it was too bad the meat had to be thrown out, because it could have helped the hungry.
It didn’t take long for NDP Leader Brian Mason to weigh in, saying he’s appalled that a public official would suggest feeding tainted meat to Albertans living in poverty.
Smith responded by saying she doesn’t like to see good food go to waste.
She says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has been pretty clear in its remarks that if the beef is cooked at a high enough temperature, it will kill the bad bacteria.
Smith believes that if there had been a good way to salvage the meat and send the product to markets, she would be first in line.
Sixteen people have gotten sick from E. coli and have been able to trace their illness back to meat from XL Foods’ Lakeside plant.
The comments come at a tough time for the people of Brooks, where one in six residents is out of work.
The CFIA has yet to determine when the plant may be able to re-open.
It announced Friday that federal inspectors would be making a list of recommendations over the weekend of items that need to be addressed.
Brooks Mayor Martin Shields says he’s been speaking with a plant manager and has heard that they could re-open later this week.
He tells The Calgary Herald many of the workers are being recalled Monday for an orientation with the company taking over management of the plant, JBS.
