TORONTO —
COVID-19 infections are now disrupting parts of Canada’s food sector, including the meat processing industry.
Meat-packing plants in Alberta that are responsible for a substantial portion of Canada’s beef are shut or running reduced lines as they grapple with outbreaks among staff.
The shutdown of these plants and others across the country is causing a ripple effect throughout Canada’s food supply chain, affecting grocery stores and fast-food chains.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed the shutdown of meat plants in his daily public briefing on Wednesday, saying the federal government’s priority is ensuring those supply chains keep functioning and that its workers feel safe.
“The priority or the preoccupation and challenges we’re facing isn’t as much around safety of the food produced, which continues to be ensured, but the safety of the workers working in those plants because of COVID-19,” Trudeau said. “That is something that requires a little more work and a little more co-ordination to ensure that we’re keeping those workers safe, not just the food safe — which is always a priority for us all.”
Trudeau said the federal government is working “very closely” with the agricultural industry and provinces to ensure that meat plants continue to get food to Canadians while adhering to public health measures.
CTVNews.ca looks at which processing plants are seeing outbreaks and what the companies are doing to ensure Canada maintains a safe supply of meat.
CARGILL INC.
Cargill Inc. — one of Alberta’s largest meat processing plants — shut down its plant in High River on April 20 after a 68-year-old woman who worked at the plant died from COVID-19.
As of Tuesday, there are now 759 cases of COVID-19 confirmed among workers at the Cargill plant. It’s the largest outbreak linked to a single site in Canada.
The temporary closure of the facility isn’t expected to result in beef shortages, but the reduction in capacity will mean that ranchers will bear the brunt. As prices for their product fall, ranchers will have to choose between an increase in transportation costs for sending their cattle further for processing, or an increase in overhead because they’re keeping the animals for longer.
The Cargill plant processes about 4,500 head of cattle per day — more than one-third of Canada’s beef-processing capacity.
JBS CANADA
The JBS meat-packing plant in Brooks, Alta. has recorded 124 cases as of COVID-19 and one death as of Monday. The plant has reduced operations but remains open.
A petition has been launched calling for a temporary two-week shutdown of the facility to limit the spread of the virus, and for an inspection to ensure public health measures are being upheld.
CCA Executive Vice President Dennis Laycraft told CTVNews.ca that the closure of these two plants has already created a backlog of market-ready animals.
“Cargill is one of our largest plants and combined with what’s happening in JBS, that’s basically pushing prices down as cattle are delayed to be sold. And we’ve seen prices since the plant closed dropped by about $500 an animal,” Laycraft said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
To cope with the backlog, Laycraft said producers are keeping cattle on feed for longer to slow their growth.
CONESTOGA MEATS
Pork processing plant Conestoga Meats in the Waterloo, Ont. region halted operations April 24 after seven of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. The plant will not be processing hogs for at least 7 days, resulting in limited staffing and operations. The company typically processes between 35,000 to 40,000 hogs a week
The company said in a statement that it is working closely with health officials to ensure prevention, testing, and cleaning protocols are being followed. The Ontario Ministry of Labour is investigating two complaints filed April 22 about a lack of physical distancing procedures at the plant is ongoing.
LILYDALE
The union representing employees at the Lilydale plant in Calgary is calling for the factory’s closure after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee last worked at the plant on April 15 and is self-isolating at home. Sofina Foods, which owns the plant, says it remains fully operational and has taken a number of steps to protect its workers. However, the United Food and Commercial Workers Canada Union says physical distancing measures at the plant are not being followed and are asking it be closed until proper health protocols are in place.
UNITED POULTRY CO.
The United Poultry Co. Ltd. plant in Vancouver temporarily closed on April 20 after 28 workers at the plant tested positive for COVID-19. The outbreak prompted a statement from B.C. Premier John Horgan who said that sick employees must stay home after learning that workers stayed on the job for fear of losing wages.
Vancouver Coastal Health and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency are investigating the outbreak. The health authority said in a news release that the CFIA determined that a recall of chicken products from the plant is not required.
Two cases of COVID-19 were also confirmed at United Poultry Co.’s sister plant Superior Poultry on April 23. An investigation at the plant is underway.
OLYMEL
Quebec’s Olymel slaughterhouse closed on March 29 after nine cases of COVID-19 were detected among its workforce. More than 100 workers at the facility were later found to have been infected.
The plant has since reopened following an increase in disinfection measures and screening activities issued by the region’s health authorities. The plant’s entire workforce was in self-isolation during the closure and only those who have exhibited no symptoms have returned to work.
MAPLE LEAF FOODS
Major poultry plant Maple Leaf Foods located in Brampton, Ont. suspended operations on April 8 after three people working at the facility tested positive for COVID-19.
The plant has since reopened following a deep cleaning of the plant, including common areas and offices.
An additional COVID-19 case was also confirmed earlier this month at Maple Leaf Foods Heritage plant in Hamilton, Ont. However, the company says the plant remained open as the worker had not been at the plant for two weeks before the diagnosis.
Agriculture Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau said in a video conference in mid April that she is confident Canada has enough food amid the COVID-19 pandemic but said higher prices and less variety on store shelves is a possibility.
Laycraft said the sooner meat-packing plants make adjustments to their production lines so employees can safely return to work, the less likely there will be a meat shortage.
“Plants are actually putting in place literally hundreds of changes to ensure there’s a safe workplace,” Laycraft said. “We’re hopeful that we’ll get plants up and running and if we do, then we can avoid shortages. But if they continue to be idle, then then we will start to face shortages.”
Restaurants and fast food chains are also starting to be impacted from Canadian meat plants closing or reducing operations.
McDonald’s Canada says it will start importing beef as Canada’s food supply chain struggles to meet demand amid changes in operations to meat plants amid COVID-19. The restaurant chain, which prides itself on using only Canadian beef, said in a statement released April 28 that it had to change its policy due to limited processing capacity at Canadian suppliers including those at Cargill Inc.
In the United States, President Donald Trump has issued an executive order that meat-processing plants remain open to protect the country’s food supply, despite concerns it puts employees at risk of catching the virus.
At least 15 large plants in the U.S., including major producer JBS USA, Smithfield Foods, and Tyson Foods, among others, have temporarily closed or reduced production due to outbreaks.
Earlier this month Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said beef producers and associations are prioritizing Canadian supply before exports to ensure there are no shortages.
Canada exports about 45 per cent of its beef and cattle production annually, according to the national association, and ships to 56 countries, with the U.S. receiving 74 per cent of beef exports.
NEW YORK (AP) — Teen smoking hit an all-time low in the U.S. this year, part of a big drop in the youth use of tobacco overall, the government reported Thursday.
There was a 20% drop in the estimated number of middle and high school students who recently used at least one tobacco product, including cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, nicotine pouches and hookahs. The number went from 2.8 million last year to 2.25 million this year — the lowest since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s key survey began in 1999.
“Reaching a 25-year low for youth tobacco product use is an extraordinary milestone for public health,” said Deirdre Lawrence Kittner, director of CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health, in a statement. However, “our mission is far from complete.”
A previously reported drop in vaping largely explains the overall decline in tobacco use from 10% to about 8% of students, health officials said.
The youth e-cigarette rate fell to under 6% this year, down from 7.7% last year — the lowest at any point in the last decade. E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco products among teens, followed by nicotine pouches.
Use of other products has been dropping, too.
Twenty-five years ago, nearly 30% of high school students smoked. This year, it was just 1.7%, down from the 1.9%. That one-year decline is so small it is not considered statistically significant, but marks the lowest since the survey began 25 years ago. The middle school rate also is at its lowest mark.
Recent use of hookahs also dropped, from 1.1% to 0.7%.
The results come from an annual CDC survey, which included nearly 30,000 middle and high school students at 283 schools. The response rate this year was about 33%.
Officials attribute the declines to a number of measures, ranging from price increases and public health education campaigns to age restrictions and more aggressive enforcement against retailers and manufacturers selling products to kids.
Among high school students, use of any tobacco product dropped to 10%, from nearly 13% and e-cigarette use dipped under 8%, from 10%. But there was no change reported for middle school students, who less commonly vape or smoke or use other products,
Current use of tobacco fell among girls and Hispanic students, but rose among American Indian or Alaska Native students. And current use of nicotine pouches increased among white kids.
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The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
WASHINGTON (AP) — An Alabama man was arrested Thursday for his alleged role in the January hack of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission social media account that led the price of bitcoin to spike, the Justice Department said.
Eric Council Jr., 25, of Athens, is accused of helping to break into the SEC’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter, allowing the hackers to prematurely announce the approval of long-awaited bitcoin exchange-traded funds.
The price of bitcoin briefly spiked more than $1,000 after the post claimed “The SEC grants approval for #Bitcoin ETFs for listing on all registered national securities exchanges.”
But soon after the initial post appeared, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on his personal account that the SEC’s account was compromised. “The SEC has not approved the listing and trading of spot bitcoin exchange-traded products,” Gensler wrote, calling the post unauthorized without providing further explanation.
Authorities say Council carried out what’s known as a “SIM swap,” using a fake ID to impersonate someone with access to the SEC’s X account and convince a cellphone store to give him a SIM card linked to the person’s phone. Council was able to take over the person’s cellphone number and get access codes to the SEC’s X account, which he shared with others who broke into the account and sent the post, the Justice Department says.
Prosecutors say after Council returned the iPhone he used for the SIM swap, his online searches included: “What are the signs that you are under investigation by law enforcement or the FBI even if you have not been contacted by them.”
An email seeking comment was sent Thursday to an attorney for Council, who is charged in Washington’s federal court with conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.
The price of bitcoin swung from about $46,730 to just below $48,000 after the unauthorized post hit on Jan. 9 and then dropped to around $45,200 after the SEC’s denial. The SEC officially approved the first exchange-traded funds that hold bitcoin the following day.
Google, Meta and TikTok have removed social media accounts belonging to an industrial plant in Russia’s Tatarstan region aimed at recruiting young foreign women to make drones for Moscow’s war in Ukraine.
Posts on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok were taken down following an investigation by The Associated Press published Oct. 10 that detailed working conditions in the drone factory in the Alabuga Special Economic Zone, which is under U.S. and British sanctions.
Videos and other posts on the social media platforms promised the young women, who are largely from Africa, a free plane ticket to Russia and a salary of more than $500 a month following their recruitment via the program called “Alabuga Start.”
But instead of a work-study program in areas like hospitality and catering, some of them said they learned only arriving in the Tatarstan region that they would be toiling in a factory to make weapons of war, assembling thousands of Iranian-designed attack drones to be launched into Ukraine.
In interviews with AP, some of the women who worked in the complex complained of long hours under constant surveillance, of broken promises about wages and areas of study, and of working with caustic chemicals that left their skin pockmarked and itching. AP did not identify them by name or nationality out of concern for their safety.
The tech companies also removed accounts for Alabuga Polytechnic, a vocational boarding school for Russians aged 16-18 and Central Asians aged 18-22 that bills its graduates as experts in drone production.
The accounts collectively had at least 158,344 followers while one page on TikTok had more than a million likes.
In a statement, YouTube said its parent company Google is committed to sanctions and trade compliance and “after review and consistent with our policies, we terminated channels associated with Alabuga Special Economic Zone.”
Meta said it removed accounts on Facebook and Instagram that “violate our policies.” The company said it was committed to complying with sanctions laws and said it recognized that human exploitation is a serious problem which required a multifaceted approach, including at Meta.
It said it had teams dedicated to anti-trafficking efforts and aimed to remove those seeking to abuse its platforms.
TikTok said it removed videos and accounts which violated its community guidelines, which state it does not allow content that is used for the recruitment of victims, coordination of their transport, and their exploitation using force, fraud, coercion, or deception.
The women aged 18-22 were recruited to fill an urgent labor shortage in wartime Russia. They are from places like Uganda, Rwanda, Kenya, South Sudan, Sierra Leone and Nigeria, as well as the South Asian country of Sri Lanka. The drive also is expanding to elsewhere in Asia as well as Latin America.
Accounts affiliated to Alabuga with tens of thousands of followers are still accessible on Telegram, which did not reply to a request for comment. The plant’s management also did not respond to AP.
The Alabuga Start recruiting drive used a robust social media campaign of slickly edited videos with upbeat music that show African women smiling while cleaning floors, wearing hard hats while directing cranes, and donning protective equipment to apply paint or chemicals.
Videos also showed them enjoying Tatarstan’s cultural sites or playing sports. None of the videos made it clear the women would be working in a drone manufacturing complex.
Online, Alabuga promoted visits to the industrial area by foreign dignitaries, including some from Brazil, Sri Lanka and Burkina Faso.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, a Turkish diplomat who visited the plant had compared Alabuga Polytechnic to colleges in Turkey and pronounced it “much more developed and high-tech.”
According to Russian investigative outlets Protokol and Razvorot, some pupils at Alabuga Polytechnic are as young as 15 and have complained of poor working conditions.
Videos previously on the platforms showed the vocational school students in team-building exercises such as “military-patriotic” paintball matches and recreating historic Soviet battles while wearing camouflage.
Last month, Alabuga Start said on Telegram its “audience has grown significantly!”
That could be due to its hiring of influencers, who promoted the site on TikTok and Instagram as an easy way for young women to make money after leaving school.
TikTok removed two videos promoting Alabuga after publication of the AP investigation.
Experts told AP that about 90% of the women recruited via the Alabuga Start program work in drone manufacturing.
