Jason Smith says every piece of equipment in the Smith's Snacks plant is being thoroughly cleaned. (CBC)

Back-to-back recalls have prompted an eastern Newfoundland food company to clean every nook and cranny in its sandwich manufacturing plant.

Smith's Snacks voluntarily recalled two separate products earlier this month after a type of bacteria was found.

Working through the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Smith's recalled a line of prepackaged submarine sandwiches and a separate line of chicken club sandwiches.

Food inspectors detected the bacterial contamination in both products, but the plant stayed in operation during the week that passed during the two incidents.

Vice-president Jason Smith acknowledges that the plant should have shut down when the first problem was detected.

"We haven't had much experience [with this]," Smith told CBC News.

"The move we're taking right now is recalling everything ... until we get a real good grip on this."

The company said the bacteria had to have come from one of two sources: an element in the factory or in the food itself. Smith's has sent all of its raw materials — meats, cheeses and even samples from its water supply — out for testing.

This week, instead of making sandwiches, the crew has been dedicated to cleaning every piece of equipment in the Norman's Cove plant.

Machinery has been disassembled, old shelves are being replaced with new ones and employees who would normally be making sandwiches have been scrubbing every inch of the plant with toothbrushes.

"All of our staff have been in here from morning to night … just attacking this issue," said Smith, whose parents started the company in 1971.

If the latest tests come back clean, the factory could be operating again as early as Sunday.

Smith said the process has not been easy or cheap, but he is hopeful that the company will not lose business.

"We have some goodwill to fall back on," he said.

The recalled products were distributed only in Newfoundland and Labrador.