We have researched best practices globally and are implementing enhanced food safety protocols based on leading standards for cleaning, sanitation and testing. We are the first company in Canada to create the position of a chief food safety officer, a top-level executive who reports directly to the CEO. Dr. Randall Huffman is responsible for leading the implementation of global best practices in food safety and quality assurance programs across our company. We are establishing the Maple Leaf Food Safety Advisory Council, a team of global experts who will increase our access to global knowledge and expertise in areas of food safety, microbiology, food health and public education. And we are building relationships with scientific and food safety institutions that allow us to draw on leading research in food health and safety. We will share our knowledge with industry and government so we can learn from them and they can learn from us, in pursuit of better performance across the industry.

All of this means we are not only meeting regulatory requirements; we are exceeding them and establishing our own, stricter standards. We are committed to:

• Producing high quality, safe food in a safe environment;
• Being at the leading edge of global food safety knowledge and practices;
• Applying aggressive testing programs that exceed government regulations to manage potential risk to its lowest level;
• Fostering transparent and fact-based communication with our consumers.