Public Health Agency says 7 people sick from E. coli linked to burger recall
By The Canadian Press - Monday, February 25, 2013 - 0 Comments
OTTAWA – A total of seven people have been made ill from E. coli…
OTTAWA – A total of seven people have been made ill from E. coli bacteria after eating beef that has been linked to recalls of frozen burgers.
The Public Health Agency of Canada says two cases reported this month include a person in Manitoba and a person in Ontario and are linked to products sold by Canada Safeway Inc.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the other fives cases are from December and include products sold by Loblaws.
These confirmed cases include four people in Ontario, two in Alberta and one in Manitoba.
The health agency says these people became ill in December and January and are now recovering.
Earlier this month the CFIA announced that Canada Safeway was recalling products including Gourmet Meat Shoppe Big & Juicy Burger and the Gourmet Meat Shoppe Prime Rib Burger with a best before date of Aug. 14.
Officials say the two most recent cases of E. coli are linked to recalled Gourmet Meat Shoppe Big and Juicy burgers.
The products were distributed in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.
Also affected in the recall are Butcher’s Cut Pure Beef Patties sold in packages of 10, 20 and 40.
The Public Health Agency Canada website says the risk to consumers remains low because all products found to be contaminated were recalled from store shelves.
The agency says people should check their freezers and either return or throw out any of the recalled products.
Recalled beef products from Loblaws in December included certain Butcher’s Choice Beef Burgers.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. An earlier version linked the seven cases to Canada Safeway.
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The loneliness of a fast-food franchise
By Tamsin McMahon - Wednesday, November 21, 2012 at 8:20 AM - 0 Comments
Despite big investments to spruce up stores and expand menus, once-thriving restaurant chains are suddenly struggling to get ahead
Simon Hayter
Analysts were understandably skeptical this month when Tim Hortons interim CEO Paul House blamed the company’s disappointing third-quarter financial results partly on “capacity issues” at some of its restaurants. Canada’s iconic coffee-and-doughnut chain reported that it’s on track to miss its annual growth target in part because lineups at some of its stores were simply too long. “In some ways, it is not good news, but in other ways, it is good news in the sense that . . . we’ve got lots of business,” House told a conference call last week.
It’s a remarkably positive spin on what has been an off year for the ubiquitous coffee chain. Sales growth at existing Tim Hortons stores has been below two per cent for the past two quarters, while growth of 2.3 per cent at U.S. stores fell well below its target of five per cent. What growth the company has seen has been from customers spending more at each visit, even as traffic to its stores declined. The report wasn’t all bad news. The chain did manage a $105.7-million profit for the quarter, up two per cent from a year ago. Continue…
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Burger shacks reignite land-claim tensions in Caledonia
By Tom Henheffer - Monday, August 15, 2011 at 9:05 AM - 0 Comments
A renegade hamburger joint is creating problems for the Six Nations and the local municipality
Have a hankering for a burger, but sick of inflated prices brought on by the decadent frills of electricity, health inspections and operating permits? Then Caledonia, Ont., has an unlicensed, hastily constructed hamburger stand for you. The business, which doesn’t have a phone and isn’t connected to hydro, recently popped up next to an unlicensed smoke shack on provincial land off of Highway 6 and has become the latest flashpoint in a long-standing fight over a Six Nations land claim. “It smacks in the face of a community subject to stagnant growth for a number of years,” says Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt. He says the federal government denied the land claim years ago but the province is still refusing to shut down the businesses—its owners claim the land is theirs—and several other unlicensed smoke shacks in the area. Hewitt says this is undercutting local vendors, and driving away developers. “We’re killing the local economy.”
Residents staged protests outside the burger stop and the mayor’s residence, with little success. Members of the Six Nations council did not return calls from Maclean’s, but Paul Gerard, the Ministry of Infrastructure’s spokesperson, says the province is aware of the businesses and is in talks with all involved to resolve the situation. Hewitt says the government is wasting time. “The province is weak-kneed, afraid of backlash,” he says.
But Chris Leosis, owner of the Oasis drive-in, a Caledonia landmark that has been in operation for more than 80 years, says the owners of the shacks are working alone and don’t represent the Six Nations as a whole. He expects the government or the band council to step in and resolve the dispute soon. Regardless, he isn’t all that worried about his own sales. “People can eat anywhere,” says Leosis. “Who wants to be in a place that has no inspections?”
