Home Library Translate
A A A
Share »
Follow us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on LinkedIn
Connect »

Blog: Crisis Management

Menu

  • This Blog's Home
  • Guest Writer Submissions
  • Policies
  • To Subscribe to a Blog
  • About
  • Feedback

E. coli Crisis Management in Canada

By Jonathan & Erik Bernstein on February 24, 2013

Second outbreak in as many months from Cardinal Meat Specialists

As if the beef industry wasn’t in enough trouble with the entire horsemeat debacle, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed that two people have contracted food poisoning, caused by E. coli, after eating frozen beef burgers.

The company responsible for manufacturing the burgers, Cardinal Meat Specialists, has recalled all products that were on the line that day, and according to reports is cooperating fully with authorities. Normally a single recall is not a major problem for manufacturers, provided they handle things well, but this is Cardinal’s second E. coli scare since December and that complicates things a bit.

A sleeping watchdog?

Now, it is possible for microorganisms to sneak their way into raw product, even with proper safety and handling procedures in place, but the fact that two batches of tainted meat went out within as many months is bound to put a negative tint on public perception of not only the producer, but also the organization that is supposed to be overseeing them, namely the CFIA.

The watchdog agency was criticized heavily for not demanding a recall until several people had fallen ill in the December Cardinal E. coli crisis, and another tainted batch of burgers coming out of the same facility so soon leads the public to believe, whether it’s true or not, that the CFIA isn’t doing its job. If the CFIA wants to avoid taking heavy, long-term reputation damage in the court of public opinion, then it has to put in the effort required to absolutely guarantee Cardinal is clear to produce safe product.

No comment

At the time of this writing the recall has grabbed quite a bit of news coverage, but looking through the Cardinal website we can’t find a single mention of the current situation. Their news section proudly touts the results of the December investigation (no fault found), and has an article on new plants, as well as plans to expand into the U.S., so why no word on the latest issue?

There is really no excuse to not be THE primary source of information on any crisis that centers around your organization. A bit of brainstorming, some careful construction of messaging, and 30 minutes of work from a webmaster is all it takes to publish an informative statement with easily-findable link right there on your existing website.

Frankly, not doing this is fast going the way of saying “no comment,” ie. it is far more detrimental to your reputation than getting out there and spilling the facts.

One of our favorite sayings is, “in the absence of communication, rumor and innuendo will fill the gap,” and that damaging rumor and innuendo finds a hole faster than ever given the incredible speed and volume of ‘net communication today.

When it’s clearly crisis management time, step up and start communicating. There’s no excuse not to.

——————————-
For more resources, see the Free Management Library topic: Crisis Management
——————————-

[Jonathan Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc., an international crisis management consultancy, author of Manager’s Guide to Crisis Management and Keeping the Wolves at Bay – Media Training. Erik Bernstein is Social Media Manager for the firm, and also editor of its newsletter, Crisis Manager]

« Previous Next »

Search Our Site

Meet this Blog’s Co-Hosts

Jonathan L. Bernstein, founder and Chairman of Bernstein Crisis Management, Inc. has more than 25 years of experience in all aspects of crisis management – crisis response, vulnerability assessment, planning, training and simulations.[Read more ...]


Erik Bernstein is president of Bernstein Crisis Management. Erik started with BCM in 2009 as a writer and subsequently became social media manager for the consultancy itself as well as for a number of BCM clients before moving to the president position. [Read more ...]

Recent Blog Posts

  • Digital and Online Now Main Source Of News
  • Are You Prepared For 2021? New Crisis Management Survey Out Now
  • Crisis Preparedness and Response Is About To Get Tougher
  • How to Create a Crisis Management Plan to Respond to a Cyber Breach
  • Audi’s ‘Insensitive Ad’, or Why you always ask how else an image could be interpreted.
  • The Road To Crisis Recovery
  • Preparing DURING The Pandemic
  • Coronavirus: What You CAN Control
  • Southwest’s COVID-19 Crisis Communications And What You Need To Be Doing
  • Crisis Manager On The Spot…Quick Coronavirus Crisis Communications Tips

Categories of Posts

  • Avoid the Apology
  • college crises
  • communications
  • conflict resolution
  • Crisis Assessment
  • Crisis Avoidance
  • crisis communications
  • crisis management
  • Crisis Management Quotables
  • crisis planning
  • crisis preparedness
  • Crisis Prevention
  • crisis public relations
  • Crisis Response
  • crisis training
  • customer service
  • cyber attacks
  • cyber bullying
  • cybersecurity
  • data breach
  • Dealing With Media
  • Digital Media Law Project
  • disaster crisis management
  • disaster prevention
  • Disaster Response
  • disease crisis management
  • emergency management
  • Erik Bernstein
  • ethics
  • Facebook
  • food industry crisis management
  • hackers
  • hacking
  • Higher Education
  • hospitality
  • HR
  • information security
  • Internal Communications
  • internet crisis management
  • internet security
  • Jonathan Bernstein
  • Journalistic ethics
  • Law
  • Litigation PR
  • litigation-related crisis management
  • Media Relations
  • media training
  • online crisis management
  • Online Reputation Management
  • political crisis management
  • PR
  • preventable crises
  • privacy breach
  • privacy violation
  • Public Relations
  • recall crisis management
  • Reputation Management
  • Risk Management
  • SEO
  • social media
  • social media crisis management
  • social media policy
  • social media reputation management
  • sports crisis management
  • violence prevention
  • vulnerability audit
  • Weiner Awards
  • workplace violence

Blogroll

  • Bernstein Crisis Management Blog
  • Jonathan Bernstein's HuffPost Blog
  • The Crisis Show

Related Library Topics

  • Assessments
  • Business Insurance
  • Computer Security
  • Coordinating Activities
  • Crisis Management
  • Employment Laws
  • Ethical Analysis
  • Lawyers (Using)
  • Managing Change
  • Marketing
  • Media Relations
  • Organizational Communications
  • Planning
  • Public Relations
  • Risk Management
  • Safety in Workplace
  • Bernstein Crisis Management Blog

Library's Blogs

  • Boards of Directors
  • Building a Business
  • Business Communications
  • Business Ethics, Culture and Performance
  • Business Planning
  • Career Management
  • Coaching and Action Learning
  • Consulting and Organizational Development
  • Crisis Management
  • Customer Service
  • Facilitation
  • Free Management Library Blogs
  • Fundraising for Nonprofits
  • Human Resources
  • Leadership
  • Marketing and Social Media
  • Nonprofit Capacity Building
  • Project Management
  • Quality Management
  • Social Enterprise
  • Spirituality
  • Strategic Planning
  • Supervision
  • Team Building and Performance
  • Training and Development
About Feedback Legal Privacy Policy Contact Us
Free Management Library, © Copyright Authenticity Consulting, LLC ®; All rights reserved.
  • Graphics by Wylde Hare LLC
  • Website maintained by Caitlin Cahill

By continuing to use this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy.X