In October 2024, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) concluded its food safety investigation related to the recall of various Silk and Great Value brand plant-based refrigerated beverages due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination.
As committed to at the time, the CFIA's Inspector General completed a review of the circumstances surrounding this recall. The review included:
- inspecting a selection of food manufacturing facilities producing plant-based products
- looking at how licensing and oversight are managed
- analyzing consumer complaints made to CFIA from April 2021 to September 2024
I would like to thank the Inspector General and his office for their dedication and thoroughness in completing this important work. The findings are being carefully reviewed and assessed to inform continuous improvements of our risk models and inspection operations. The Agency will announce an action plan in response to the recommendations of the report early this fall.
The CFIA remains committed to working to protect the health and safety of Canadians by ensuring the integrity of our food supply and maintaining the highest standards of food safety.
The full report is available here: Inspector General report: Review of plant-based manufactured food establishments.