How E. coli got in Calgary daycare food, causing massive outbreak, may never be known: report

A report into a massive E. coli outbreak at Calgary child-care facilities that saw hundreds fall ill says it was likely tied to meat loaf at one meal, but how it got there can’t be determined for sure.

The report released Monday by Alberta Health Services says it’s not possible to say if the bacteria came from a contaminated ingredient in the meat loaf or into the meat loaf from elsewhere on the menu or through an infected kitchen worker.

The Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel, made up of people from various backgrounds in both the for-profit and not-for-profit childcare sectors, the food service industry, and experts in food safety and public health, was formed in November 2023 in the wake of a Calgary daycare’s historic E. coli outbreak.

The UCP government promised a review into food safety in kitchens that make food for licensed childcare facilities in Alberta after 448 cases of E. coli were found in children, parents, and guardians connected to 11 Calgary daycares. Thirty-eight kids and one adult were hospitalized as a result of the infection, and 23 of those patients were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome. Eight of those patients required dialysis.

“This is the largest gastrointestinal outbreak in AHS history and likely one of the largest Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) outbreaks involving child-care facilities anywhere,” said the report.

“The central kitchen served up to 1,275 attendees and 250 child-care facility workers during the period in question, in addition to exposures to kitchen staff and people in the community who ate leftovers.”

An investigation determined all of the sites were receiving food from the Fueling Brains Academy Centennial kitchen. The report narrowed the E. coli down to a single meal served from the daycares central kitchen on Aug. 29, 2023.

“One meal originating from the central kitchen came out with extremely high odds as being the source of inspection. The beef meat loaf served at lunch on Aug. 29, 2023, was the probable food item containing the E. coli,” said the report.

“Workers who ate beef meat loaf were 23 times more likely to become a confirmed STEC case than workers who did not eat beef meat loaf.”

The two directors of KidsU Centennial, operating as Fueling Brains Academy and Fueling Minds Incorporated, are facing several municipal bylaw charges to which they have pleaded not guilty, as well as a $10 million class action lawsuit filed on behalf of impacted families.

Panel makes 12 main recommendations to enhance food safety

Former Calgary police Chief Rick Hanson led the panel which also included an Alberta Children’s Hospital infectious diseases specialist, an agriculture and environmental science professor, a restaurant owner, the owner of an early learning and child care centre, and the president and CEO of YMCA Calgary.

The panel reviewed the Public Health Act, the Food Regulation, the Institutions Regulation, the Early Learning and Child Care Act and Regulations as well as other applicable standards, guidelines or operating procedures to improve food safety in licensed child care facilities as part of its work.

That report released Monday made 12 main recommendations to protect the health and safety of children in licensed child-care facilities.

The Alberta government said it has already started work on implementing some of the changes, including increasing the frequency of inspections at child-care facilities, mandatory training programs for food workers and improving response times in child-care facilities where food safety concerns have been raised.

Planning is also underway to require all licensed child-care providers to prominently post their most recent public health inspection reports for parents to review.

“It’s our government’s intention to act on every recommendation we can to protect children’s safety and to restore trust in the system,” Premier Danielle Smith said in a statement.

“Last year’s E. coli outbreak had a devastating impact on families, and we are committed to making sure an event like that never happens in our province again.”