BTC: Listeria, by the numbers

From the Globe.

"More than 440 food products have been recalled so far this year because of exposure to Listeria monocytogenes, including 323 related to a single production line at a Toronto meat processing plant. During the five years between 2003 and 2007, by comparison, the food-borne pathogen was mentioned in only 19 product recalls."

The story gets a bit confusing from there. But the key point appears to be this:

"... figures compiled by The Globe and Mail on the number of food recalls reveal that some of the testing did not appear to happen until the product was on retail shelves or had already been consumed."