Alberta officials will reveal on Monday afternoon the final report from a government-appointed panel that’s been looking into food safety in kitchens that provide meals to licensed child-care facilities.
The panel was formed after a sudden E. coli outbreak occurred in Calgary back in September 2023, with at least 448 total cases — including 38 children and one adult being hospitalized for severe illness.
Alberta Health Services previously said 23 children were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, a complication affecting the blood and kidneys, and eight required dialysis.
The eight-week outbreak was traced back to Fueling Minds, a catering company and school lunch delivery service provider that prepared food for its Fueling Brains locations and other daycares in Calgary.
Health officials have said meatloaf and vegan loaf meals served for lunch in August 2023 most likely contained the E.coli out led to the initial infections.
The City of Calgary charged Fueling Minds Inc. and its two directors, Faisal Alimohd and Anil Karim, in September 2023 with serving food at child-care centres in Calgary without a food services business license.
The corporation and directors face 12 charges and a total fine of up to $120,000. They have pleaded not guilty.
The central kitchen was flagged during the outbreak for three critical health violations, including lack of proper sanitization methods, a pest infestation and food being transported without temperature control.
The kitchen was shut down and reopened in mid-November 2023 to receive and serve food prepared by another provider.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has previously said the panel will look at whether policy changes are needed, including posting kitchen inspection reports on doors and potential consequences for food operators who have repeat violations.
Smith has also said that she asked the panel to look at “food handling requirements, such as temperature control and storage, both on-site where the food is prepared and stored, as well as off-site transit to where it will be delivered and consumed.”
The news conference with the findings will begin at 1:30 p.m. MT.