TORONTO – A Canadian food manufacturer, which last month had been at the center of a Listeria outbreak and nationwide recall, said Thursday that a new strain found in contaminated meat posed no risk to the public.

Maple Leaf Foods CEO Michael McCain reportedly said that four samples that were tainted with the listeriosis bacteria were produced at the same Toronto plant linked to the fatal outbreak. The tainted meat never left the company's control and were not released to stores, according to reports.