In the face of the meat recall, everyone wants to know just how safe their food really is, both across the country and right here in the Ottawa region.
On Wednesday, Maple Leafs Foods President Michael McCain took full responsibility for the listeriosis outbreak.
"We have excellent systems and processes in place, but this week, it's our best efforts that failed," McCain said. "Not the regulators or the Canadian food safety system."
The federal agriculture minister also spoke on Wednesday, answering critics who say there aren't enough inspectors, and not enough inspection of what we eat.
"Canadians must know that the food they buy and serve their families is safe," said Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. "Canada has one of the most stringent food safety systems in the world, but we can always make it better. That's why we're investing $113 million in Canada's food and consumer action plan, and have already hired 200 more inspectors with more to come."
The grim listeriosis list now stands at 29 cases nationally, with 15 deaths. Twelve of those deaths were in Ontario and one in Quebec.
A possible second case of the disease in Ottawa is now considered not related to the outbreak.
An 89-year-old who died Monday in Madoc, near Belleville, may have been another victim of listeriosis.
Some local delis and other places serving cold meats have been left with economic pain from the Maple Leaf recall. At Ottawa's Di Rienzo's Grocery, where the meat comes from Montreal and not Toronto, staff are not concerned and neither are their patrons.
"Here we haven't seen any troubles with this because we don't carry any of their products and we don't carry any pre-sliced meat," said Paulo Di Rienzo.
Other stores in Ottawa are trying to reassure their customers about the quality of their foods. Some Tim Horton's locations have signs posted, telling customers that none of their sliced deli meats have been affected by the recall.
With a report from CTV's Norman Fetterley
