Better Food

We are actively addressing the most pressing diet-related health issues we face as a society including reducing artificial ingredients, antibiotic use and sodium levels, and continually advancing leadership in food safety.

Great food means different things to different people at different times, and we want to meet all those needs! In 2018, we executed on our strategy to make better food that meets the real needs of consumers:

We are transitioning our Maple Leaf Prime brand to 100 per cent Raised Without Antibiotics
We completed a revamp of the Maple Leaf brand and removed everything artificial
We are simplifying and increasing the readability of our packaging to help consumers make informed food choices

Our Goals and Performance

See how we’re progressing on our Better Food goals and what we’ve prioritized for the following year.

Our journey toward better food

Great food means different things to different people at different times and we want to meet all those needs!

Maple Leaf Foods completed exhaustive consumer research that has led to an initiative to renovate our prepared meats portfolio across our three brands: Maple Leaf, Schneiders and Swift.

We launched the most comprehensive changes in our Maple Leaf brand’s history, taking out the ingredients you don’t know or don’t want and replacing them with natural, real or simple ingredients that you can pronounce. Read the Maple Leaf Food Manifesto.

Ingredients then

Mechanically separated chicken, pork, water, modified corn starch, salt, potassium lactate, dextrose, wheat gluten, spice, corn syrup solids, sodium phosphate, sodium diacetate, sodium erythorbate, garlic powder, onion powder, sodium nitrite, smoke.

Contains: wheat

Ingredients now

Chicken, pork, water, tapioca starch, sea salt, spice, vinegar, cultured celery extract, cane sugar, cherry powder, smoke.

Plant-based protein

One of our strategies is to broaden our reach into protein alternatives. In the past few years, we established Maple Leaf Foods as a North American leader in plant-based proteins by forming Greenleaf Foods, SPC, a wholly owned subsidiary based in Chicago whose portfolio of leading plant-based protein brands includes Lightlife® and Field Roast Grain Meat Co.™

Since 1979, Lightlife has provided quality vegetarian and vegan foods prepared in the most healthy and sustainable manner.

Field Roast, based in Seattle, Washington, adapts traditional meat-making practices to craft vegetarian “meats” made from grains, vegetables and spices.

In 2018, Lightlife added a new burger to its core line of products. With the rapid growth in consumer demand for plant-based protein products, the new burger delivers a sensory breakthrough in taste and texture that consumers are craving.

To Learn More, Visit lightlife.com

To Learn More, Visit fieldroast.com

Nutritional Information

Knowing the right amount of which foods to eat each day and understanding how to read food labels are important to ensure a healthy lifestyle. To help Canadians make informed food choices, we are focusing on three priorities:

Easier-to-read labels

Simplify and increase the readability of packaging, so consumers can make informed food choices.

A focus on facts

Partner with Health Canada, the Retail Council of Canada, Food Consumer Products of Canada, the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers and other leading food companies to launch “Focus on the Facts” nutrition labeling.

Better nutrition information at your fingertips

Provide better, more engaging content to help consumers access information that will help them plan their diets based on their nutritional needs.

Download Our 2018 Sustainability Report to Learn More

Food safety

225,000+ tests: We follow rigorous food safety testing for Listeria and other forms of potential contamination, which exceeds Canadian Food Inspection Agency requirements.

At Maple Leaf Foods, we do our very best to minimize the presence of bacteria that can cause foodborne illness, such as Salmonella, Listeria and E. Coli. Our goal is to always provide consumers safe, great tasting food produced in a safe work environment. To that end, we have created the Maple Leaf Food Safety Promise, which we stand by and adhere to in our daily duties.

Download Our 2018 Sustainability Report to Learn More

Our global food safety standards

We adhere to the Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) benchmarked standards across Maple Leaf Foods. All of our meat production facilities are audited annually by an internal food safety audit function and a third-party auditor, following the British Retail Consortium (BRC) Global Standard for Food Safety, which is recognized by the GFSI. All of our fresh and prepared meats facilities adhere to these standards. In 2017, we acquired Lightlife Foods, a plant-protein business in the U.S. that is certified to the SQF (Safe Quality Food) standard, which is also a GFSI-benchmarked standard. In 2018, this facility achieved BRC certification.

We monitor the effectiveness of our efforts through aggressive testing of our products and manufacturing environment. In 2018, we conducted more than 225,000 tests to measure quality and detect microorganisms, including pathogens in our food processing facilities and products.

We also regularly swab, test and sanitize all of our meat production areas, including manufacturing equipment, floors, walls and all surface areas, for the presence of Listeria.