EDMONTON - As questions remain about when the beef plant at the center of an E. coli outbreak and product recall will reopen, another meat company in Alberta has ramped up production.
The Cargill Ltd. plant in High River has been operating six days per week since the XL Foods Inc. plant in Brooks had its licence suspended by food safety inspectors.
Cargill says it is operating full out, handling up to 4,500 cattle per day using workers from the same union as XL Foods.
Peter Frost of United Food and Commercial Workers union Local 1118 says they have a good relationship with managers, and when people have ideas or point out concerns, Cargill listens.
In Brooks, 800 members of UFCW Local 401 are getting ready to return to work Tuesday, only days after XL Foods announced the temporary layoff of 2,000 staff.
The workers are to finish cutting beef carcasses as part of a Canadian Food Inspection Agency evaluation on whether the plant is safe to process cattle and send meat to market.
