The commercial kitchen company pleaded guilty to four by-law offences Thursday after a massive E. coli outbreak at Calgary Daycares has made hundreds of children sick.
Fueling Minds Inc. was charged after the eight-week outbreak declared in September 2023.
There were at least 448 infections, with 39 children and one adult hospitalized due to severe illness.
The plea came in what was scheduled for the first day of trial, and a $10,000 fine was recommended by joint submission from an attorney.
Judge Mathieu St. Germain said he hopes to confirm the facts on May 27th and decide the sentence.
“As we know, this is an important issue and you must take the appropriate care you have when negotiating this agreement,” the judge said.
“Now it's my turn to give you the same level of care and make decisions.”
Health officials said the fuel supply provided breakfast, lunch and snacks to their own daycare and several separate daycares.
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The day after the outbreak was declared, the company was flagged for three health violations, including lack of proper disinfection methods, cockroaches invasion and pest invasion, including food transported without temperature control.
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Reports last year suggest that the outbreak is likely tied to meatloaf, but it was not possible to determine for certain whether the bacteria came from contaminated ingredients or anything.
The state has also launched a third-party review that will develop recommendations to better protect children's health and safety in licensed childcare facilities.
An agreed factual statement presented in the court states that from October 2022 and August 2023, fuel suppliers had agreed to four other daycares, and thus they operated without a foodservice business license.
In 2021, company managers sent an email to Alberta Health Services to inquire about the necessary steps to operate food services, but did not receive a response, court documents say.
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“Promoting the failure to obtain a business license for foodservice has not been established to cause the incident,” he said.
Heart-breathing attorney Steve Major told the court that his client took what happened very seriously. It was the first crime, he adds, and the exact cause of the outbreak remains a mystery to be considered in another lawsuit.
“I beg the court here not to bring any passion, emotion or poison. “The E. coli breakout is different from what this procedure is intended to deal with. This means not having a catering license,” Major said.
“Our client had a kitchen license, and this venue was not a popsicle stand in the alley behind it, it was previously a commercial restaurant.
“It was an unchecked admin box.”
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