Tag Archives: Canada

Throw away the key; Canadian politicos to punish food safety offenders

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The Canadian government is unveiling a food-safety bill today that will hike penalties for serious offences to $5 million.

Sarah Schmidt of Postmedia News writes the bill, to be tabled in the Senate, could bring together as many as five food statutes with varying standards under one piece of legislation — the food provisions of the Food and Drugs Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Meat Inspection Act, the Fish Inspection Act and the Canada Agricultural Products Act.

The move follows a recommendation from Sheila Weatherill to simplify and modernize federal legislation and regulations that affect food safety. The government turned to Weatherill to conduct an independent investigation on the state of food safety in Canada after the 2008 deadly listeriosis outbreak linked to deli meats produced at a federally inspected facility.

Weatherill, who zeroed in on a "vacuum in senior leadership" among government officials, directed more than half of her 57 recommendations to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency following the death of 23 Canadians who consumed contaminated meat.

Under current rules, anyone convicted of a serious offence could be fined up to $250,000. Under the new act, penalties could be as high as $5 million, or, in the case of the most serious offences, even higher at the court’s discretion.

 

Why Canadian bureaucrats stalled on HACCP

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In 1989, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency was a world leader in studying the application of HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) in meat-packing plants.

Veteran Canadian ag reporter Jim Romahn says he wrote a lot of critical columns about the CFIA sitting on the sidelines while the United States ended up taking the lead in implementing HACCP requirements for the meat-packing industry.

(CFIA was created in 1997 and included the meat inspection program of Agriculture Canada but is referred to as CFIA herein because the same people were involved.)

“I have learned that the reason for Agriculture Canada’s hesitation was political fears that HACCP standards in Canada would be challenged in the World Trade Organization as a non-tariff trade barrier.

“Now, isn’t that just wonderful! The Canadian public remains faced with a food-safety risk because our politicians are too afraid to do the right thing.

“Of course, as soon as the U.S. moved to require HACCP, all of our packing plants that export to the U.S. had to comply.

“Politics is blocking another simple benefit for Canadian consumers. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency could change from over-the-shoulder meat inspection to point-of-sale sampling and testing and punishingly-expensive recalls that could also destroy the reputation of a brand.

“I don’t pretend to know all of the ins and outs of the debates that bureaucrats have advanced to bog things down, but in essence it seems that a retail-level standard for meat safety would intrude on provincial jurisdiction and their weak-kneed failure to require some of the more expensive aspects of food safety. The federal bureaucrats say legislation would be required and the politicians refuse to go there.

“So, food safety is compromised by politics. It’s the Canadian way where politicians boast that we have the safest food in the world – or, since they’ve been found out – "our food is among the safest in the world". What they say does not match with what they do or, in this case, fail to do.

“And don’t buy into the excuse that it would cost governments too much. What’s so expensive for governments in requiring companies to ensure the safety of the products they market?”

Snappy title alert: ‘C-Enter Net 2010 short report’ (pooping causes in Canada)

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The latest report from Canada’s National Integrated Enteric Pathogen Surveillance System has hit the Intertubes. Think of it as FoodNet, 15 years late.

Only bureaucrats could have written this.

In 2010, campylobacteriosis, salmonellosis and giardiasis (beaver fever? Oh, it’s Canada) were the most common enteric diseases in C-EnterNet’s sentinel sites, with rates of 29.5/100,000, 26.0/100,000 and 14.2/100,000, respectively. Overall, the number of endemic, travel- and outbreak-related cases reported in SS1 in 2010 were higher than that reported in 2009. In SS1, the incidence rate of campylobacteriosis, especially travel-associated infections, was higher in 2010 than 2009. The incidence rate of endemic salmonellosis has increased in both sentinel sites over the last couple of years, with SS2 steadily increasing since 2006.

Travel continues to be an important factor in the burden of enteric disease. In 2010, 30% and 23% of all cases of enteric disease were associated with travel outside of Canada, in SS1 and SS2 respectively. In both sentinel sites, the travel-related proportion of cases, compared with endemic cases, was highest for cyclosporiasis (100% in both SS1 and SS2), shigellosis (83% (SS1) and 33% (SS2)) and cryptosporidosis (43% (SS1) and 60% (SS2)).

C-EnterNet is an integrated enteric pathogen surveillance system based on a sentinel site surveillance model collecting information on both cases of infectious gastrointestinal illness and sources of exposure within defined communities. C-EnterNet’s primary objectives are to detect changes in trends in human enteric disease and levels of pathogen exposure from food, animal and water sources in a defined population; and to strengthen source attribution efforts in Canada by determining statistically significant risk factors for enteric illness.

In 2010, C-EnterNet implemented a second sentinel site in part of the Fraser Valley in the lower mainland of British Columbia, in partnership with the Fraser Health Authority (FHA). The communities of Burnaby, Abbotsford and Chilliwack comprise the sentinel site within the Fraser Health Region. In this region, active surveillance of enteric pathogens is performed in the retail sampling of bagged leafy greens, and enhanced human disease surveillance is performed in collaboration with FHA and the BCCDC Public Health Microbiology and Reference Laboratory. In the first sentinel site, C-EnterNet continues its strong partnership with the Region of Waterloo Public Health within the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario and the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion’s Toronto Public Health Laboratory where enhanced surveillance of human cases of enteric disease in the community is performed. In parallel, active surveillance of enteric pathogens is performed in water, food and on farms.

The purpose of this report is to present the preliminary findings from the 2010 surveillance year in both sentinel sites. Note that C-EnterNet data need to be considered in the context of two sentinel sites, thus major conclusions cannot yet be extrapolated nationally.1 This report will be followed by the Long Report, which will include more extensive analyses of temporal trends and subtyping information for an integrated perspective on enteric disease from exposure to illness for 2010.

For further information about the C-EnterNet program or sampling methodologies, please refer to our website (http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/c-enternet/index-eng.php).

Market food safety efforts at retail – not in newspapers (do they still exist?)

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The California Leafy Greens types got $250,000 to inform (they said educate) Canadian consumers about its food safety mandates.

“We want to gauge the impact of a program like the LGMA on consumer confidence,” said Scott Horsfall, chief executive officer of the Sacramento-based organization.

Mike Hornick of The Packer reports LGMA has already surveyed Canadian consumers, and plans to do so again at the program’s end.

Just 10% of those surveyed said they were aware of the LGMA’s food safety processes, and 56% said they’re concerned about the safety of leafy greens.

“It’s a number that gives us pause, consistent with numbers you see in the U.S.” Horsfall said. “At the end we’ll see if we’ve moved anyone.”

Canadian PR program seeks to educate consumers on US greens

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When all else fails, resort to posture: the rock-star pose with Townsend-inspired exaggerated guitar, sexual imagery in TV sitcoms, public relations rather than public information.

I can’t wait to be plied by the PR types at Argyle Communications about the safety of California leafy greens.

The California Leafy Greens Marketing Association, rather than address a rapidly accumulating number of outbreaks associated with their lettuce and spinach and leafy product that have never been made public – has chosen to boost consumption by educating Canadians on the safety of U.S. greens; with that focus, they’ve already lost.

Data, transparency and creativity are what count. Mad Men is an entertaining television show set in the 1960s and they figured out these basics. So did Aristotle about 2,350 years ago, when he wrote any successful rhetoric includes an appeal to logic, an appeal to authority and an appeal to emotion.

“With funding from a California Specialty Crop Block Grant, the LGMA is launching a comprehensive public relations program designed to directly reach Canadian consumers through magazines, newspapers, television and the Internet to make sure they know all California leafy greens sold in Canadian must be certified by the LGMA.

"Consumer media outlets are the primary target of the campaign which seeks to raise awareness among Canadian consumers about the safety of leafy greens from California. Shortly after the LGMA was established, the Canadian government issued a mandate that all California leafy greens imported into the country must be certified by the LGMA.

"To make Canadian consumers aware of the measures being taken to ensure the safety of California leafy greens, Argyle Communications, a Canadian-based public relations firm has been retained to conduct a year-long communications campaign. The planned program includes two separate outreach efforts targeted at food and health reporters from Canadian media outlets and blog sites. The first of these will be mailed in the next few weeks and includes a presentation packet with basic facts and information about the LGMA along with featured recipes developed specifically for this effort. For a select target list, the packets will be hand delivered and will include product in the form of one of the featured recipes. For the first delivery, the featured recipe is Kale Chips. Later in the summer this same type of activity will be repeated with a different theme. A food safety spokesperson will also be pitched to Canadian television and radio outlets in an additional effort to communicate with consumers about the safety of California leafy greens.

"In early June, a tour of California leafy greens operations is scheduled to give Canadian media representatives a first-hand look at the comprehensive food safety program for leafy greens from California. In addition, the LGMA micro-site at www.safeleafygreens.com is being revised to serve a consumer audience with recipes and important handling information being added."

Toddlers dominate food safety discussion in Canada

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Why is meat inspected?

Why does it have to be overseen by veterinarians?

Does inspection result in fewer sick people?

Do inspectors have pathogen-seeking goggles?

How can the system be improved?

In Canada, the years following the 2008 listeria-in-Maple-Leaf-deli-meat outbreak that killed 23, the federal inspectors’ union has had the public discussion volume set to shrill.

It’s now reached 11 as the federal government wants to make cuts to various levels of the civil service but offers no rationale, and the union blindly proclaims any cuts to federal meat inspectors would be “devastating.”

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, who inexplicably still has his job after joking on a conference call during the 2008 listeria outbreak he was dying death by a thousand cold-cuts — while people were actually dying – blindly reiterates that there is "no way" the federal government would ever compromise food safety.

Sarah Schmidt of Canada.com has asked for precise numbers — more than once. But for some reason, neither CFIA nor Gerry Ritz’s Office has responded to this request for specific details and numbers. Instead, this is what the media has received, in the form of a statement from Ritz (reproduced in part):

“The Agency will not make any changes that would in any way place the health and safety of Canadians at risk. In fact, Economic Action Plan 2012 includes an additional $51 million over two years to enhance food safety, building upon the $100 million in last year’s budget. Ensuring safe food for Canadian families is CFIA’s priority and these changes underscore that commitment. Since 2006, the Harper Government has provided the investments for the CFIA to hire 733 net new inspection staff. Agriculture is a competitive modern industry, and changes will modernize Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada allowing it to concentrate on innovation, marketing and reducing barriers for business.”

Ger, make your case, explain what government-back inspection does and does not do. Union types: make a case about the necessity of your role, using examples and data. Then maybe the two sides can work on something that actually makes fewer people barf; cause I thought this was all about food safety, At this point you both sound like my 3-year-old who goes into a trance-like meltdown when she’s in a mood or can’t get what she wants and huffs and puffs and repeats the same line 10 times.

Salmonella in tahina in Canada, no one sick (yet)

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is warning the public not to consume the Ayyam Zaman brand Extra Fine Tahina described below because the product may be contaminated with Salmonella.

The affected product, Ayyam Zaman brand Extra Fine Tahina, is sold in 400 g packages bearing UPC 6 217000 429807 and a code starting with "EXP 10/08".

This product is known to have been distributed in Ontario and may have been distributed in other provinces as well.

There have been no reported illnesses associated with the consumption of this product.

As usual, no one knows how the Salmonella was magically discovered. 

On the run: sheep suspected with scrapie missing in Canada

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is working with provincial police to locate sheep that have been removed from a farm currently under a quarantine order. The sheep were quarantined as part of an ongoing scrapie investigation at a farm in Eastern Ontario.

"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is committed to protecting livestock health, and takes the management of animal diseases very seriously," said Dr. Brian Evans, Chief Veterinary Officer for Canada. "While we recognize that disease control activities can be difficult on producers, the eradication of animal diseases, such as scrapie, is critical to ensuring the long-term sustainability of the sheep industry."

The sheep are suspected of having scrapie, a fatal disease that affects sheep and goats. While there is no human health risk associated with scrapie, it has serious impacts on sheep and the CFIA aims to eradicate it from Canada. Canada’s approach to confirmed or suspected cases of scrapie is based on internationally accepted science and seeks to minimize disruptions to producers.

Quarantine breaches may put the livestock industry and the economy at risk. Any person who breaches a quarantine may be subject to criminal prosecution under the Health of Animals Act.

Because these animals may pose a risk for scrapie, premises that receive them may be subject to a quarantine and further regulatory action.

"Our organization supports the eradication of scrapie," said Dr. Paula Menzies, representing the Small Ruminant Veterinarians of Ontario. "Although we sympathize with owners of affected flocks, Canada must deal effectively with this disease."

Food safety expert warns of ‘nasty bug’ in beef recall

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Ex-pat food safety type Ben Chapman, described as currently professoring at North Carolina State University, was brought in by Canadian media today to add his perspective on the creepy crawly E. coli O157:H7 recall that now includes 135 different products.

“(It’s) really a nasty bug. As a father of two little boys, it’s one of the bugs that scares me the most.”

Chapman added that the growing nature of the beef recall shows that authorities "just weren’t able to find out what the history of the (originally suspect) product was, so they’ve essentially recalled everything that producer has put out."

Garfield Balsom, a food safety and recall specialist at the Canadian Food Inspection Agenc, clarified the expanded recall of frozen burgers and steakettes all came from a Saskatoon food-processing plant operating under the name New Food Classics that has since stopped operations.

Chapman recommended using a thermometer to ensure hamburger has reached an internal temperature of 71C , noting that the inside color of meat is not a reliable indicator of how well cooked it is.

Norm Neault, president of the United Food and Commercial Workers union local representing New Food Classics workers in Saskatoon, said the company had been struggling for some time and had gone into creditor protection in January. He said it was facing higher prices from its distributors for the raw products yet locked into long-term prices with its customers, resulting in lower profit margins.

The complete list of recalled products can be found online at: www.inspection.gc.ca/english/corpaffr/recarapp/2012/20120319cliste.shtml

Peer-review has a purpose: Canadian food safety study long on rhetoric, short on data

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A new report says Canadians suffer more foodborne illness than Americans, that most of it happens with restaurant meals, and that consumers are sorta dumb too.

Unfortunately, the report relies heavily on other reports that are not peer-reviewed, assumptions, and suffers from highly selective referencing to make a point – and I have no idea what that point is.

The report, Improving Food Safety in Canada: Toward a More Risk Responsive System, released by the Conference Board of Canada to coincide with their food safety conference and upstaged by Galen Weston Jr.’s comments that farmer’s markets were going to kill someone, says half or more of all cases of foodborne illnesses in Canada are picked up in restaurants or from other food service providers.

Daniel Munro, Principal Research Associate, said, “It is commonly assumed that farms and food processing companies hold the most responsibility for ensuring safe food, and their role is critical. But most foodborne illnesses are associated with the preparation and storage practices of restaurants, food service operations, and consumers themselves.”

I’m not sure who makes that assumption. It is estimated there are 6.8 million cases of food-borne illness annually in Canada.

Part of the problem can be traced to restaurant inspection systems that are seen as too sporadic to have an impact on restaurants’ day-to-day food safety practices.

Garth Whyte, president and CEO of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association dismissed the report describing it as "shockingly short on facts."

"This study did not even bother contacting us about what we are doing, and if they had, they would know that there are three government recognized food safety training programs that train tens of thousands food handlers per year," Whyte said.

Except training alone doesn’t do much for food safety behavior.

The report provides a number of recommendations to improve Canada’s food safety system including providing restaurants and other food service providers with timely information and advice on how they can minimize food safety risks.

We call them infosheets.

It also urges governments to build on current consumer awareness initiatives by engaging consumers directly in discussions about food safety in their households.

The report offers no advice on how to do that.