Maple Leaf Roundtable Event
By Survival Mom on May 26, 2010 with Comments 13
Congratulations to Belinda: winner of the Maple Leaf Goodie Bag giveaway!
Maple Leaf Foods partnered with Matchstick hosted a Maple Leaf Roundtable event held at Quincy Cooking School in Vancouver, British Columbia. Invited to this event were 20 other mommy bloggers located in the Vancouver area along with myself to listen to Jeanette Jones Vice President, Communications for Maple Leaf and Sharon Beals Senior VP, Food Safety and Quality Assurance for Maple Leaf.
Both Jeanette and Sharon did a great job in sharing the commitment that Maple Leaf is making to becoming a global leader in food safety as a result of the incident that occurred in August 2008 with the Listeriosis illnesses and tragic deaths that were linked to their products.
Sharon Beals shared all of the actions that they are taking as an organization to not only ensure that they will never be in a position like that of August 2008 but that as an organization they will be a leader in food and safety within their 91 plants across the globe.
What I was very pleased to see what the open and honest nature that Maple Leaf Foods put forth during our discussion. They opened the floor to questions and since the audience was made up of not only mommy bloggers….but, moms themselves, there were some very pointed questions thrown at the Maple Leaf Executives. It was a frank discussion that assured me and the other mommy bloggers that Maple Leaf has taken all of the necessary steps to prevent an outbreak from re-occurring. These steps span from significantly increasing their cleaning practices and implementing unannounced “spot checks” in each of their plants to becoming GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) certified. This certification isn’t something that all meat plants ARE REQUIRED to take part in. Maple Leaf Foods has chosen to take the necessary steps to become certified which was great to see.
As a mom of two young children who eat prepared meat on a regular basis I was keen to understand the steps taken by an organization like Maple Leaf Foods to ensure safety in the food preparation. And I have to tell you that I was pleasantly surprised.
Then the fun part came….we were served a wonderful dinner of the various Maple Leaf Product Line (see pics below) and had time to mingle with the other mommy bloggers and talk about our thoughts on what we had just learned. It was a fun night overall and I am very pleased to have taken part in a great and informative evening. Below are pictures of me and Naomi Jesson, Wendy Irene and the other wonderful Mommy and Dad Bloggers who attended.
Thanks Maple Leaf Foods!
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Filed Under: Child • Featured • Giveaways on NOW • Lucky Mommy • Mommy Stuff
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I only buy enough food for a few days and store it at the proper temperature.
When traveling I pack ice packs, but also freeze suitable snack foods to keep meats cold
I keep food safe at home by checking all of the expiration dates and making sure cold and frozen foods are stored at the right temperature.
Everyday food safety things like having separate cutting boards and cutlery for meats and non-meat items is very important and easy to do. I’m very aware of how time and temperature relate to food safety. Cooking food to the proper temperature and keeping it out of the danger zone when storing are critical. When traveling I try to pack foods that can be safe longer such as peanut butter sandwiches, granola bars, and fresh whole fruits.
It was great meeting you too!
When BBQ i use different tongs for raw meats and cooked meats.
I don’t put raw chicken on top of cooked foods.
I always pack my sons snacks and milk in a proper insulated lunch bag with an ice pack.
I have various sized coolers both soft and hard shells depending on where we are going and how many of our 6 are going. I also have reusable icepacks that I place in the coolers or my kids lunch bags. Milk is stored in a stainless steel bottle when traveling surrouned by icepacks. Sometimes it seems like a lot of work but it sure beats paying for takeout. Other tricks I have learned over the years are to freeze juiceboxes and yogurt tubes so they stay cold.
I always defrost meat and frozen foods in the fridge instead of on the counter.
Thanks for the great review of your event at Maple Leaf foods!
I am not with it today. I hope I did not already enter this. If so, delete this, and sorry
I keep food safe when traveling by keeping it in a proper cooler with ice bags and keeping it inside if at a trailer, or in the tent when I am camping.
thriftycanucks at gmail dot com
I defrost meat in the fridge and never on the kitchen counter.
We always use different plates for raw food & cooked food.