TORONTO - The president and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods denied Wednesday that the company discussed Listeria with government officials last July in relation to any food-safety issue, saying the matter only came up in the context of U.S. trade regulations.

Michael McCain was responding to a Canadian Press report Tuesday that cited handwritten notes from a meeting in July 2008, well before the height of a serious listeriosis outbreak linked to Maple Leaf products.

The notes refer to Listeria, but it was only discussed in the context of routine trade issues, said McCain, who added the company takes the "strongest possible exception" to any inference that it withheld information from the public.

"We acted within hours of being notified of our product containing Listeria; we had no prior knowledge," McCain said in an interview.

"The inference which was widely reported today that we may have known in July is just simply not accurate."

The notes from the July 24 meeting, which involved a Maple Leaf executive and a regulatory official from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said "food safety in relation to Listeria" was among the topics discussed.

The Canadian Press had earlier been told that officials from the CFIA and Maple Leaf had not discussed Listeria at the meeting. The notes, which were obtained under the Access to Information Act, provided no additional details about the substance of the talks.

Key sections of the notes outlining the content of the Listeria discussion have been blanked out in the released material. The author of the notes, which were taken by the CFIA, is not specified.

Asked why both sides had previously denied that the subject of Listeria came up at the meeting, Maple Leaf and the CFIA said earlier denials were in regards to discussion of the listeriosis outbreak itself.

The meeting took place before laboratory tests linked the company's luncheon meats to the deadly listeriosis outbreak on Aug. 16.

In a release, McCain said "Listeria was not discussed in the context of any food safety issue; it was discussed in the context of U.S. trade regulations during a routine and ongoing dialogue with the government."

He called The Canadian Press report "misleading and irresponsible."

CFIA officials also say the listeriosis outbreak was not discussed at the meeting, noting that the health crisis was not clearly identified until some weeks later.

A CFIA spokesman said Listeria and other microbes were discussed only in the context of product exports to the United States.