Redpath Sugar Ltd. dry blending and packaging plant at 315 University Avenue in Belleville. (Photo: Nicole Kleinsteuber / Quinte News)
A contamination at a major sugar refinery in Toronto has temporarily shut down a packaging plant in Belleville until the Canadian Food Inspection Agency completes an investigation.
Quinte News has learned a dead bird was found in one of the sugar silos during a routine inspection at Redpath Sugar’s main facility in Toronto on February 1.
Redpath Sugar Ltd. spokeswoman Laura Fracassi tells Quinte News that all product produced from January 27 to February 1, 2016 was withdrawn from the market.
“We swiftly reached out to our manufacturers to notify them and we have not been made aware that any product has left customer warehouses,” said Fracassi. “All sugar is being returned to Redpath to be disposed of by reprocessing.”
Redpath Sugar Ltd, who markets and sells sugar products in Canada under the Redpath Brand, is a part of ASR Group, the world’s largest refiner of cane sugar. The Belleville location co-manufactures major retail brands and private label products, such as sweetened iced tea, hot chocolate, and other sugar containing products for Canadian and export markets.
The Belleville plant has a number of local customers and Fracassi says she can’t speak to the individual cleaning processes or protocols of each distributor.
Quinte News has reached out to a couple of them for further comment.
Fracassi says perspectives on revenue loss or if this will affect jobs are not available at this time.
The facility in Belleville employs 130 people and Fracassi says they are being sent home with pay whereas the 350 workers in Toronto are completing other tasks within the plant.
However an employee at the Belleville site tells our newsroom that workers are not being sent home and other duties are being assigned.
The Toronto waterfront location sits just east of downtown at the foot of Jarvis Street at Queen’s Quay which is prone to a large bird population.
Fracassi said the facility plans for birds potentially getting into the silos and is working to make sure this doesn’t happen again.
She said more of the same material (feathers from the same bird) was found in unprocessed sugar inside one of their internal silos.
“This sugar has not left our facility and we are working with the CFIA on next steps,” she said.
Fracassi added they are expecting an update from the CFIA Thursday on whether or not a recall is needed and when employees can return back to work.
