Tainted meat traced to Toronto facility

TORONTO, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- Canadian authorities have confirmed a bacterial outbreak that claimed four lives has been traced to a Toronto meat-processing facility.

Maple Leaf Foods has expanded a nationwide product recall after the listeriosis outbreak was linked to its plant, Canwest News Service reported Saturday.

The expanded recall will include all sliced deli meat and other products from the Toronto facility "as a precautionary measure," the company said.

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and public health officials announced Saturday night that genetic testing results from three samples of the recalled products show at least two tested positive for the outbreak strain of listeria. The results are "highly significant" and show the investigation is "on the right path," the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement.

The number of confirmed listeriosis cases has been upped to 21 in four provinces. Sixteen of the cases have been found in Ontario, three in British Columbia, and one each in Saskatchewan and Quebec.

Three deaths in Ontario have been officially tied to the food-borne listeria bacterium, along with a fourth death on Vancouver Island. The number of confirmed and suspected cases are expected to increase over the next several weeks.