A beef slaughter plant in Ontario's Niagara region has temporarily lost its federal operating license due to "deficiencies in hygienic practices."
St. Ann's Foods, operating at St. Anns in the Niagara regional municipality southwest of St. Catharines, was licensed for slaughter, boning and cutting of cattle, sheep and goats and to provide kosher and halal slaughter.
The St. Anns plant was approved to export meat to the U.S., Vietnam, Hong Kong and Chile.
The suspension, effective Thursday, comes after the company failed to correct deficiencies in hygienic practices that were previously identified through (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) inspections," CFIA said in a release Friday.
The company had already presented an "acceptable action plan... that would have corrected these deficiencies," CFIA said, but has been "unable to demonstrate consistent or full implementation of the corrective measures within the required time frame."
The suspension stands, CFIA said, until St. Ann's has "fully implemented the necessary corrective actions."
There are no food recalls and no reported illnesses connected to this suspension, the agency said.
