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One person is dead and at least 16 more have been sickened by a nationwide outbreak of listeria infection that may have originated in a Toronto meat-processing plant.

Maple Leaf Foods Inc. announced yesterday the recall of more than 20 meat products and temporarily shut down the Toronto factory where they were packaged. Listeria monocytogenes, a relatively common food-borne bacterium that can cause serious illness in pregnant women and the elderly, has been found in three tests of products in the past five days.

Products affected include sliced meats served by McDonald's and Mr. Sub restaurants, as well as lines supplied to grocery stores (under the Schneiders and Sure Slice brands) and many commercial kitchens including some serving hospitals or nursing homes.

The recall comes at a delicate time for Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government, which has already come under fire from the opposition over a leaked cabinet document that outlines plans to give the meat industry greater control of food inspection.

It was late July when a spike in illnesses caused by listeria came to the attention of public-health officials in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Quebec. They asked the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to "follow the food," said Garfield Balsom, an agency spokesman.

An investigation by agency inspectors, including one stationed permanently at the Toronto plant, led late last week to an identical strain of the bacterium in sealed Maple Leaf products produced there.

Linda Smith, a spokeswoman for the Toronto-based meat and baked-goods producer, said the company was first informed last Saturday that one of its products, Sure Slice brand roast beef, had tested positive for listeria, and began a recall of that line, as well as its Sure Slice corned beef which was identified as problematic later.

After learning yesterday that a second, wider range of foods may have been contaminated, Ms. Smith said, Maple Leaf opted to recall all of the plant's products and shut down its production lines as part of a "broad precautionary approach." Mr. Balsom said CFIA inspectors had supported the move, but that the company was "not under recommendation" to close the entire plant.

Philippe Brideau, a spokesman for the Public Health Agency of Canada, cautioned that the Maple Leaf plant cannot be singled out as the definite source of the current outbreak, which "could come from anywhere."

Listeria infection, or listeriosis, can have an incubation period of up to 90 days, which means the number of cases may rise. Ontario's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care issued a statement yesterday saying "there is an outbreak" of listeriosis in the province, and advised health-care providers to be on the lookout for symptoms that include headache, nausea and muscle stiffness.

Of the 17 cases of listeriosis confirmed so far by federal health officials, 13 are in Ontario and two are in British Columbia, with one each in Saskatchewan and Quebec.

More than a dozen additional illnesses in Ontario may be the result of listeria infection, but their causes have not been confirmed, according to Mark Nesbitt, a Health Ministry spokesman.

The bulk of this summer's infections are thought to have originated in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, and have primarily affected the elderly. Vinita Dubey, a deputy medical officer of health for the City of Toronto, said the median age of the infected in the city is 72, but she would not identify the facilities suspected of having served contaminated food. She added that in a typical year 11 confirmed cases of listeriosis would be observed in Toronto, while there have been nine so far this summer.

With reports from Virginia Galt and Jennifer Lewington