The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, August 29, 2008

Article Excerpt

MAPLE LEAF FOODS INC. $8.75, Toronto symbol MFI, moved down again this week after it expanded its recall of meat products that may contain listeria bacteria. Maple Leaf has now recalled all of the over 220 products produced at its Toronto plant, instead of the 20 or so that it first identified as possibly containing the bacteria. There is no evidence of listeria contamination at the company’s 22 other facilities, which continue to operate normally. Maple Leaf is working with federal food safety officials to fix the problems at the Toronto plant. It will not re-open the plant until it completes its investigation. The company now estimates the recall will cost it $20 million. To put that in context, Maple Leaf lost $9.4 million or $0.07 a share in the three months ended June 30, 2008 due mostly to restructuring costs. The company also faces several class-action lawsuits. Based on similar listeria outbreaks at U.S.-based food producers Pilgrim’s Pride in 2002 and Kraft…