The Georgia Straight has won the top magazine award for investigative reporting from the Canadian Association of Journalists.

Regular contributor Alex Roslin received the honour for “The Meat of the Matter”, a cover story in the October 21-28, 2010, issue of the Straight.

That feature examined the then-current state of Canada’s meat-inspection system in the wake of the notorious 2008 Maple Leaf Foods listeria outbreak that killed 23 Canadians and inflicted many others with permanent disabilities.

Roslin found that more than a year after a government-ordered inquiry into the nationwide tragedy, food-industry insiders were saying that the inspection system for the type of meats that caused the poisonings was possibly less effective, that most of the inquiry’s recommendations had not been implemented, and that the Canadian rates of food poisonings and product recalls were actually rising.

Roslin won the same award in 2009 for his 2008 Straight feature “The Pill Pushers“.

The annual CAJ awards for investigative journalism were handed out during a gala dinner on May 14.

For a complete list of winners, go here.