A woman from Guelph, Ont., charged in connection with needles found in Schneiders meat products in an Ontario supermarket is a former employee of Maple Leaf Foods, the company said Friday.

Police on Thursday said a woman, 41, from the city had been charged with one count of common nuisance under the Criminal Code.

On Friday, Maple Leaf Foods said the woman was a former employee. "The individual charged had previously worked at the company’s plant in Guelph for seven years," the company said in a news release. Schneiders is a Maple Leaf Foods brand.

On March 18, police said they began an investigation after they were told that some Schneiders meat products sold at the No Frills store at 191 Silvercreek Parkway had been tampered with.

"Aside from the original complaint, none of the items tampered with were sold to the public," a police news release said.

Eventually, 12 packaged meat products containing 13 sewing needles of various lengths were found. No one was hurt by the needles.

Loblaws (which owns No Frills), Schneiders and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were all involved in identifying and recalling the brands that had been tampered with, which included wieners, hams, turkey and sausage.

Common nuisance carries a maximum penalty of two years in jail.

Mastoora Qezil is to appear in Guelph bail court Friday, media in the city reported.