Listeria outbreak victims call for reform after algorithm failed to flag affected plant

Victims of a deadly listeria outbreak this summer say they are angry and shocked by revelations that a federal system for determining risks at food manufacturers – which involved an algorithm for assigning inspectors – resulted in the facility in question not being inspected.A Globe and Mail investigation found that the system introduced five years ago by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) sought to prioritize production plants for inspections. But while the algorithm placed more focus on certain operations, it didn’t flag others, resulting in potentially risky sites receiving no scrutiny at all.