Maple Leaf Foods today announced its sponsorship of the kitchen learning centre at the Toronto Wellspring facility, part of the cancer support centre's new $5 million expansion program.

The state-of-the-art kitchen, which will serve as a social hub and learning centre, will be called the Maple Leaf Foods Nourishment Centre, "Nourish!" for short. Nourish! will also be the site of a brand new series of educational programs on food for people coping with cancer, including programs on foods that fight cancer, food safety for people undergoing cancer treatments who are more susceptible to risks, and related food preparation.

"We believe Wellspring does amazing work for people with cancer and when offered the opportunity to be part of their community, we jumped on it. Food is the nourishment of life and it plays an important role in the life of someone facing cancer. We hope "Nourish!" will be a place where people find great learning and great eating experiences," said Michael H. McCain, President and CEO, Maple Leaf Foods. He made the announcement at the official community launch of the Wellspring Sunnybrook Expansion campaign.

"The tiny kitchen at our existing Wellspring facility has traditionally been the heart of the centre with a constant flow of chatter, support and baked goods," said Lynda Morrison, Wellspring's Chief Executive Officer. "Now we will have a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen where our members will have the opportunity to experience programs that will stimulate their appetites and their minds."

Wellspring at Sunnybrook provides cancer support programs to more than 2,300 people and the centre is at capacity. The expansion will allow for the centre to triple its size and programming. It is slated to open mid-2010.

About Maple Leaf Foods

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading food processing company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The Company employs approximately 24,000 people at its operations across Canada and in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Asia. The Company had sales of $5.2 billion in 2008.

About Wellspring

Wellspring is a network of community-based centres that provide a wide range of programs and services to individuals and families living with cancer, free of charge and without medical referral. Founded in downtown Toronto in 1992, Wellspring has expanded into a network of seven centres and seven satellite locations across Ontario and Alberta. Three new centres are in development in Halifax, Edmonton and Ottawa.

Wellspring programs provide people with a variety of unique mechanisms for coping with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, and its impact on patients, family members (including children) and professional caregivers. In addition to one-to-one peer support, each centre offers support groups and coping skills programs that aid in stress management. Short-term counselling, bereavement support and educational workshops on specific topics of interest to members are also provided on a regular basis. All programs are offered in a welcoming and home-like environment, and confidentiality is assured.

Wellspring receives no core or government funding and charges no fees, and therefore relies on donations, events and volunteer support in order to operate.

SOURCE: Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Media Relations Hotline, (416) 926-2020

"I am very pleased that Stephen has agreed to join Maple Leaf in this new high-impact executive role," said Michael H. McCain, President and CEO. "We are focused on accelerating our growth in product innovation and marketing that builds upon our leading brands and market shares, supports our customers, and delivers a stream of exciting new products for consumers. Together with our strong marketing teams across our business units, Stephen brings the depth of experience, a track record of success and the industry leadership to help us drive future business results in Canada and beyond."

Stephen is a widely recognized and awarded marketing executive, in both Canada and the U.S., who has consistently generated exceptional top line and bottom line results in tier one companies. His international experience in transforming companies into customer driven, growth focused organizations is well documented. Stephen began his career at Procter & Gamble where he helped them rapidly grow a number of their personal care brands. Recruited to Coca-Cola during the cola wars, he led the successful repositioning of the Coca-Cola brand, growing brand awareness and corporate market shares to record levels. As President of a leading Agency, which was selected as Agency of the Year, and through his consulting company, he has advised some of the world's leading consumer companies on corporate strategic planning, major marketing and sales growth initiatives. He has also held executive marketing positions at Rogers, CIBC and AT&T in the U.S., where he was ranked No.1 by Advertising Age in their Power 50 selection of top global marketers.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading food processing company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The Company employs approximately 24,000 people at its operations across Canada and in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Asia. The Company had sales of $5.2 billion in 2008.

SOURCE: Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Lynda Kuhn, Senior Vice President Communications, (416) 963-6159

Mr Graham began his career at Procter & Gamble. He has also held executive marketing positions at Rogers, CIBC and AT&T in the US.

Michael McCain, president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, said: "I am very pleased that Stephen has agreed to join Maple Leaf in this new high-impact executive role. Together with our strong marketing teams across our business units, Stephen brings the depth of experience, a track record of success and the industry leadership to help us drive future business results in Canada and beyond."

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MISSISSAUGA, ON, Oct. 22 /CNW/ - Leaders across the Canadian food industry and government are coming together to share information and learn about emerging technologies and science, in order to produce safer food for Canadians. The food safety symposium entitled "Enhancing Our Knowledge and Capabilities to Produce Safer Food" is the first gathering of its kind since the new Canadian Listeria policy was put into place after the lessons learned from last year's Listeria crisis. Hosted by Maple Leaf Foods, it will involve representatives from the Canadian food industry, government and the research community.

"The Canadian food industry is united that food safety not be used as a competitive advantage. Every member at every step in the production process is a steward of food safety," said Dr. Randall Huffman, Chief Food Safety Officer for Maple Leaf Foods. "This spirit of cooperation heralds a new beginning for our industry, and together we will make Canada the gold standard for food safety. This symposium is the first in a series to ensure we share experiences and knowledge, and gain insights into emerging risks, technology advances and cutting edge science that can deliver safer food for Canadians."

The symposium features presentations from Canada's leading health and regulatory experts including Jane Billings, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Health Agency of Canada, who will discuss foodborne illness trends and public health initiatives in Canada. Dr. Brian Evans, Executive Vice President, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, (CFIA) will discuss his agency's regulatory approach and provide an update on actions taken related to Listeria. Global experts in communication, detection and control will present the latest findings in testing and use of antimicrobials to build an effective Listeria management program, and discuss how to effectively communicate risk.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. is a leading food processing company, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. The Company employs approximately 24,000 people at its operations across Canada and in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Asia. The Company had sales of $5.2 billion in 2008.

    <<
    Maple Leaf Food Safety Symposium Presenters

    Jane Billings, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Public Health Agency
    of Canada

    Dr. Brian Evans, Executive Vice President, Canadian Food Inspection
    Agency

    Dr. Kathy Glass, Associate Director, Food Research Institute,
    University of Wisconsin

    Dr. Peter Sandman, Risk Communications Consultant

    Dr. Martin Wiedmann, Associate Professor, Department of Food Science,
    Cornell University

    Dr. Randall Huffman , Chief Food Safety Officer, Maple Leaf Foods

    Iain Stewart, Senior Vice President, Transformation & Food Safety,
    Maple Leaf Consumer Foods
    >>

SOURCE: Maple Leaf Foods Inc.

Media Contact: Linda Smith, (416) 457-1814