Canada has had a long history with tainted food and subsequent recalls. In recent memory the 2008 Maple Leafs Food, the Mad Cow fiasco of the mid 2000s pop to mind come to mind and now E. Coli, curtsey of XL Foods Inc. can be added to the list. So why are we doomed to repeat our mistakes?

Richard Leblanc’s blog from Canadian Business magazine seems to think the finger can be pointed at producer’s reluctance to implement adequate control systems. I would have to agree with him as it seems that quality control is not a priority for most agribusinesses instead the idea is to pump out as much quantity as possible. I equate it to a game of Russian roulette because as we learn from history once a company experiences this kind of bad press it takes time and a lot of reduced sales before consumers can trust them again.

The blog gives the example of McCain’s Foods as the ideal model. So I think the lessons we can learn here are a secure and safe supply chain managed by a competent operations team can assure the mutual benefit of all stakeholders in the company.