TORONTO - Maple Leaf Foods (TSX:MFI) has appointed a chief food safety officer, a first for the company and potentially the industry, as the company tries to recover from a deadly Listeria outbreak.

"I think we're the first in Canada and ... possibly in North America to have that role inside a major food company," Maple Leaf president and CEO Michael McCain said Wednesday.

Bacteria from a Maple Leaf plant in Toronto was linked to the deaths of 20 people in a nationwide outbreak.

"We experienced a very deep tragedy in what occurred a few months ago and took responsibility for that outcome," McCain said.

"Part of that responsibility is (to) develop an action plan looking forward."

The chief food safety officer will be responsible for leading Maple Leaf's food safety and quality programs across the country, the company said.

Randall Huffman, currently the president of the American Meat Institute, will step into the new role Jan. 5.

Huffman has a PhD and a master's degree in meat and animal science and has held a number of advisory positions in the field.

In addition to his mandate of identifying and assessing global best operating practices, Huffman will help set up a food safety advisory council within the company. It will consist of a team of experts in food safety, microbiology and public education.

The position is one of several moves Maple Leaf is taking after sales of their products tumbled by up to 35 per cent following the recall, wiping out 94 per cent of the operating profits in its meat division.

Maple Leaf is still not shipping food from two production lines within the plant affected by the recall after the facility underwent an intensive sanitization following the outbreak, McCain said.

He also took exception to a suggestion by the union representing government scientists earlier this week that greater food safety industry self-regulation would put the public at risk.

"We all share the same goal," McCain said. "That's the best food safety protocol we can possibly accomplish."

"It's totally (inappropriate) to assume that the industry doesn't have an equal passion for the very best food safety protocols and outcomes as either consumers or the regulators. ... I mean, goodness. We don't want to go through this ever again."