Media Story
Alleged ‘loophole’ lets stores change best-before date
Jan 6th, 2011
By Jon Woodward, ctvbc.ca A consumer advocate says he’s shocked about an alleged “loophole” in Canadian law that punishes grocery stores for changing a packaged-on date on perishable foods — but allows grocery stores to change a best-before date. [More...]
Food imports safe, say feds
Dec 8th, 2010
By Laura Payton, Toronto Sun The man in charge of making sure Canada’s food is safe says the system is effective, with audits showing almost perfect compliance for food imports. [More...]
Ten Years Later, They’re Still Haunted by E. coli
Dec 3rd, 2010
By Ross Anderson, Food Safety News Ten years ago, the picturesque farming town of Walkerton, Ontario, was plunged into a nightmare of food poisoning that sickened 2,300 residents, killed seven, and terrorized the town and its surroundings for weeks. [More...]
Former Health Canada chief slams agency for backing food claims without posting studies
Dec 2nd, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News The former head of Health Canada’s nutritional sciences bureau blasted the federal department Monday for failing to explain why it is approving health claims submitted by the food industry. [More...]
Critics bite into food safety
Nov 30th, 2010
By Laura Payton, Toronto Sun It’s hard to know whether the food you’re buying at the grocery store is safe, say critics of Canada’s food inspection system. [More...]
Thought for food
Oct 4th, 2010
Winnipeg Free Press Editorial Whether it is because Canadians are eating more food or growing less of it, an increasingly large proportion of the food we consume comes from other countries. This is not really anything new. Everyone knows that mangoes don’t grow in Manitoba — at least not naturally — and that kangaroo stew [...]
Correct food labels could save more lives
Sep 29th, 2010
By Ethan Baron, The Province Your federal government used your tax money to test foods you eat, and found manufacturers were labelling large numbers of products with false information about the contents. Want to know the names of the manufacturers and products? Your government won’t tell you. When asked why they won’t disclose that information, [...]
Conservatives defend food safety as furor grows over CFIA audit
Sep 24th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News The Conservative government on Friday defended its record on food safety after an internal audit found imported foods are sailing across the border without proper inspections to make sure they’re safe. [More...]
Audit questions imported food safety – System is ‘all over the map’ charges inspector rep.
Sep 24th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News The safety of imported foods in Canada is at risk because of multiple “deficiencies” with the federal government’s oversight system, a newly released internal audit has found. [More...]
Food watchdog asks who’s minding the store
Sep 24th, 2010
By Gloria Galloway, The Gobe and Mail The amount of imported food landing on Canadian dinner plates is growing, but the federal agency responsible for inspecting what Canadians eat relies to a large extent on inspectors in other countries to ensure it is safe. [More...]
Lax controls mean imported food might not meet Canadian standards: report
Sep 23rd, 2010
By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press Food from other countries is coming into Canada without full assurance it meets federal safety requirements, says a newly released report. [More...]
Healthier food claims often inaccurate, says CFIA report
Sep 22nd, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News Six out of 10 candies, baked goods and breads at the grocery store overstated things such as “sugar free,” “low in fat” or “100 per cent whole wheat” to convince shoppers to indulge in a treat or pay a premium, newly released government inspection test results show. [More...]
Just what are we putting in our mouths? Food inspection agency should be thinking of consumers first
Sep 20th, 2010
By Paula Simons, EdmontonJournal.com Perhaps you’re sitting in your kitchen, munching your 100-percent whole wheat toast, feeling virtuous about your fibre intake. [More...]
Why won’t the Tories take a food company to court?
Sep 10th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, Postmedia News The Conservative government has played the consumer card over and over since coming to power. Some moves have been significant (drafting modern consumer product safety legislation) while others have been all about the headline (Industry Minister chastising big telcos over text message charges). And it’s not unusual to see the [...]
Ready-to-eat salads, new pathogens fuel rise in contaminated produce
Aug 9th, 2010
By Randy Shore, Vancouver Sun The popularity of ready-to-eat salad mixes and the sudden emergence of a little known strain of E. coli bacteria have dramatically increased the risk of food-borne contamination and illness in Canada and the U.S. [More...]
A bone to pick: Agriculture Minister admits to problems in Canada’s meat inspection
Aug 5th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, Postmedia News Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Thursday acknowledged last week’s massive recall of all Brandt ready-to-eat deli meats exposes gaps in Canada’s meat inspection system. [More...]
No problems found at Brandt meat plant before salmonella outbreak: Inspectors
Aug 5th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, Postmedia News Federal meat inspectors didn’t find any problems that needed fixing at a meat-processing plant in the months leading up to last week’s massive recall of Brandt deli meats. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency only identified sanitation issues, deficiencies in the company’s environmental testing program and possible undercooking after public-health officials [...]
Cheap meat and cruelty
Jun 9th, 2010
Victoria Times Columnist The way some animals are being transported to slaughter in Canada could make you sick. Not just heartsick at what appears to be careless cruelty. But physically sick. [More...]
Canada’s food safety lacks farm-to-fork traceability
Jun 3rd, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service Despite a sharpened focus on food safety in Canada after the 2008 listeriosis crisis, the quality of the country’s food-safety system remains essentially unchanged, a newly published ranking concludes. [More...]
Audit Finds Tainted Meat Reaching Consumers
Apr 21st, 2010
by Helena Bottemiller Food Safety News Veterinary drugs, pesticides, and heavy metals are making it onto our plates via meat, according to a federal audit released this week. [More...]
Immediate action on food safety needs to be taken
Apr 21st, 2010
By KIRSTY DUNCAN, CAROLYN BENNETT AND WAYNE EASTER Owen Sound Sun Times Canadians have been fed a new vocabulary by the federal government: “global synchronized economic downturn,” “recalibration,” and “listeria outbreak.” [More...]
Family’s juice-box ordeal highlights food-industry woes: Expert
Apr 6th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt Canwest News Service In Johnny’s mind, it seemed like the obvious thing to do. The boy didn’t want his classmate to get sick, so he walked right over to him, took the juice box and poured the drink down the drain. [More...]
Pasteurization makes meat safer, scientist says
Mar 18th, 2010
By Joanna Smith, Toronto Star Ridding deli meats of harmful bacteria through pasteurization and other technological advances could help protect consumers while reducing the frequency of inspections, a food scientist says. [More...]
Deli meat OK for Canadians but off-limits to Americans
Mar 17th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service The Canadian Food Inspection Agency cut off access to American markets for the Toronto plant at the centre of an ongoing listeriosis investigation connected to tainted deli meats while allowing the company to continue to produce food for Canadians, Canwest News Service has learned. [More...]
Beef up number of food inspectors: Union
Mar 17th, 2010
By Bryn Weese, Toronto Sun Canadian food inspectors are working overtime to meet American food safety standards, a move their union calls “unsustainable.” [More...]
HVP recall poses safety questions
Mar 13th, 2010
By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service It sounds more like a chemical than a food ingredient and until this week most consumers had probably never heard of hydrolyzed vegetable protein – let alone realized the additive is found in thousands of processed foods. [More...]
