The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says its investigation into an Ontario facility processing plant-based milk found it was not adhering to Health CanadaB次元官网网址檚 policies on listeria prevention.

The facility is still shut down after a listeria outbreak last summer linked to the plant infected at least 20 people in Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and Alberta and led to three deaths.

The federal agency says it visited the site six times and discovered the facility was not properly conducting environmental swabbing and finished-product testing for listeria. The probe was conducted after a national recall involving several Silk and Great Value plant-based milk products on July 8.

B次元官网网址淭hat obviously was unacceptable,B次元官网网址� Health Minister Mark Holland said Tuesday while providing an update on the outbreak.

The CFIA says Joriki, a third-party facility in Pickering, Ont., used by plant milk manufacturer Danone Canada, was not considered B次元官网网址渉igh riskB次元官网网址� prior to the contamination, based on the type of food it was producing and its manufacturing process.

A three-year survey completed by the CFIA in 2022 found plant-based milk alternatives to be B次元官网网址済enerally safe,B次元官网网址� with no listeria found in the samples taken.

For that reason, the CFIA did not conduct a licence inspection prior to the investigation.

However, it did visit the plant in response to consumer complaints about allergens, an B次元官网网址渙ff-taste,B次元官网网址� and mould in 2018 and 2019, and then again in 2023 and 2024.

B次元官网网址淎ll necessary action was taken by the establishment to resolve the complaints,B次元官网网址� the CFIA says. The agency also noted itB次元官网网址檚 the first time plant-based beverages have been linked to listeria illness in Canada.

Holland called the outbreak a B次元官网网址渢ragedy.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 imperative that we shut any deficiencies and understand what went wrong,B次元官网网址� he said.

The CFIA says this outbreak shows that B次元官网网址渘ew risksB次元官网网址� emerge as scientific evidence evolves, and that its inspector general has launched a review of the circumstances surrounding the recall to identify and eliminate similar risks from taking place at other facilities.

Production at the Joriki plant will remain paused until the CFIA is satisfied with renovations to the facility.

Representatives for Danone did not immediately provide a response to the CFIA update and attempts to reach Joriki through the facilityB次元官网网址檚 website were not successful.