Maple Leaf Foods Announces Food Safety Advisory Council

TSX: MFI
    www.mapleleaf.com
    

TORONTO , Dec. 9 /CNW/ - Maple Leaf Foods (MFI:TSX) today announced the establishment of its Food Safety Advisory Council, a team of independent experts that will increase the Company's access to global knowledge and expertise in areas of food safety practices, microbiology, technology and public health.

The Council, which includes Dr. Randall Huffman , Chief Food Safety Officer for Maple Leaf Foods, will advise senior leaders in all areas of food safety. The following individuals have been appointed to the Council:

    
    -   Dr. Harvey Anderson, Director, Program in Food Safety, Nutrition and
        Regulatory Affairs and Professor, Nutritional Sciences, Physiology
        and Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto;
    -   Professor Colin Dennis, Chairman, Industry Advisory Group,
        International Agri-Technology Centre Ltd, and retired Director-
        General of the Campden, BRI food research centre in the U.K.;
    -   Dr. Mansel Griffiths, Director of the Canadian Research Institute for
        Food Safety and Chair of the Masters Program in Food Safety at the
        University of Guelph;
    -   Dr. R. Bruce Tompkin, a microbiologist with more than 45 years in the
        food processing industry and one of the developers of HACCP; and
    -   Mr. John Weisgerber, former Director of Quality for a major North
        American meat processor with nearly 40 years experience in quality
        and food safety management.
    

"The primary mandate of the Council is to challenge the status quo of Maple Leaf's food safety program so we continue to raise the bar ever higher," said Randy Huffman , Chief Food Safety Officer. "These individuals bring immense food safety knowledge to the Council and will support our commitment to becoming a global food safety leader."

The Council will focus on three key areas in its first year:

    
    -   Perform ongoing critical reviews of the Company's Food Safety
        Strategy that will include recommendations on additions or
        modifications to advance Maple Leaf's programs
    -   Provide insights on any global emerging food safety risks
    -   Provide guidance on Maple Leaf's employee training and education
        programs
    

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading Canadian food processing company. Headquartered in Toronto , Canada , the Company employs approximately 24,000 people at its operations across Canada and in the United States , the United Kingdom and Asia. The Company had sales of $5.2 billion in 2008.

Complete biographies of each of the Maple Leaf Food Safety Advisory Council members are available upon request.

For further information: please contact the Maple Leaf Media Hotline at [phone]