Maple Leaf Foods worker
© The Canadian PressA Maple Leaf Foods worker clad in protective clothing refills cleaner bottles while spraying down equipment on one of the suspect food processing lines at the facility in Toronto.
Ottawa - Four new positive tests for listeriosis have been confirmed in samples of meat at the Maple Leaf plant at the centre of the outbreak that has left 20 Canadians dead.

The plant was allowed to reopen on Sept. 17, but no product has so far been allowed to enter the market.

Late Wednesday, federal officials from the Prime Minister's Office, the Privy Council Office and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency met to discuss the new findings that the bacteria is still present in the plant.

Since the plant resumed production, there have been 2,700 product samples and four positive test results for Listeria monocytogenes.

Paul Mayers, associate vice-president of the CFIA, confirmed the results in a telephone interview with The Globe and Mail.

"We've just received results related to these four positives," said Mr. Mayers. "The plant is operating. The product isn't reaching the marketplace.

"We will, with Health Canada, conduct an assessment to assess what these findings might mean in terms of the ongoing activities in the plant and whether any additional measures would be necessary in relation to product from that plant. Of course, that assessment has not yet been conducted."

He said CFIA and Health Canada will now do a full assessment and evaluation of the positive findings.

Mr. Mayers confirmed that the CFIA informed both the Privy Council Office and the Prime Minister's Office about the positive findings and said both agencies are regularly in the loop on new developments related to listeria.

The findings, which were posted last night on the CFIA's website following inquiries from The Globe, come as the public service is under orders not to create waves during the federal election campaign.

Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union representing CFIA inspectors, said he was "flabbergasted" by the positive tests, given the scrutiny the plant is under. "It's mind-boggling. They're cleaning up their place with the whole world watching and they still don't get it right?"

The union leader said the findings underscore his organization's campaign to block efforts to transfer certain food safety responsibilities to industry.

Linda Smith, a spokesperson for Maple Leaf, was reached Wednesday evening. She did not comment immediately and said she would call back, however that call had yet to come at deadline.

The most recent government announcement related to listeriosis was a recall issued Tuesday by CFIA, warning the public not to eat certain Dunn's Famous brand Smoked Meat pouches that were distributed to Costco in Quebec, Ottawa and the Atlantic Provinces.

To date, there have been 20 deaths where listeriosis was the underlying or contributing cause, another three deaths where listeriosis was present and a further six deaths in Ontario that are still under investigation.

The latest development comes as the outbreak has already become an issue in the federal election campaign. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was forced to apologize earlier in the campaign for joking about the issue during an internal government conference call. In that call, Mr. Ritz reportedly said the government was suffering a death by a thousand cuts, "or should I say cold cuts."

Since the outbreak began, there have also been numerous media reports based on government documents either leaked to the media or obtained through access to information requests showing concern had been expressed internally about the quality of food safety in Canada.

On Sept. 6, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced an independent investigation into the outbreak of listeria, which traced back to a Maple Leaf meat plant in Toronto. The government has yet to name the head of the probe, but has released terms of reference.