Canadian meat packing firm, XL foods has recalled 800 workers it had laid off earlier, enabling the federal inspectors to complete the evaluation of the plant's operations.
The recalled workers will help process the carcasses that were present before the plant was closed. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency revoked the license of XL Foods plant after E.coli contamination was identified. Following this, the agency granted a temporary restricted licence to process about 5,100 carcasses.
The agency granted the restricted license to evaluate if the facility's new E. coli control plan is working effectively. If the control plan is successful, the agency will allow the facility to resume its normal operations of slaughtering cattle and processing beef.
E.coli was detected at XL Foods' plant in Alberta on 4 September, following which, the company issued a massive recall. The company's license was revoked in September due to deficiencies in operations.
The CFIA conducted a detailed review of the plant and issued Corrective Action Requests (CARs). It asked XL Foods to address issues such as lack of detailed documentation, insufficient record keeping, and inconsistent sampling