Posts tagged CFIA
Our inspectors can’t stop dangerous food imports
Jun 14th, 2011
By Bob Kingston, Ottawa Citizen The Canadian Food Inspection Agency might be trying hard to protect Canadian consumers from unsafe imported food. But, the simple fact is the agency is too broke to keep such products from store shelves. Canada’s import food inspection is a patchwork that ignores some products, while others are examined, with [...]
Apples top list of most pesticide-laden fruit
Jun 14th, 2011
By CTV.ca News Staff The old saying that an apple a day keeps the doctor away may need an asterisk, in the wake of a new report says some of the most popular produce contains the highest levels of pesticides. [More...]
Briefing Note: Has a secret deal scuttled food inspection investment?
Jun 1st, 2011
Ottawa (June 1, 2011) – Finance Minister Flaherty’s March 22nd budget included an investment to bolster food inspection of $100 million over five years, right? Well, maybe not. According to sources within the CFIA, a secret deal to win mention in the March 2011 budget that will be re-tabled next week may actually result in [...]
Food, beverages imported from Taiwan may contain toxic chemical: CFIA
May 30th, 2011
By Sarch Schmidt, PostMedia News Food and drink products from Taiwan tainted with a toxic chemical may have found their way into Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency warned Sunday as a local food-safety scandal goes global. [More...]
Feces in imported food from less developed countries a rising concern: scientist
May 24th, 2011
By Derek Abma, PostMedia News Importing food from less developed countries increasingly leads to people literally eating more crap, according to scientists in the United States. [More...]
Consumer groups irked over suspension of some food inspections
Apr 30th, 2011
By Sarah Schmidt, Post Media News Consumer groups on Friday said Canada’s food inspection agency is making a big mistake by indefinitely suspending inspection activities that were meant to make sure food companies and restaurants don’t mislead consumers with underweight products or exaggerated nutrition claims. [More...]
Inspections of food weights, nutrition claims suspended
Apr 29th, 2011
By Sarah Schmidt, Post Media News OTTAWA – The federal government has suspended inspection activities indefinitely that were meant to make sure food companies and restaurants don’t mislead consumers with underweight products or exaggerated nutrition claims, Postmedia News has learned. [More...]
Grocers mislabel foreign produce as local
Apr 26th, 2011
By Kathy Tomlinson, CBC News A major western Canadian grocery chain has been selling produce advertised as “B.C. Grown” that came from the United States or elsewhere, CBC News has found. [More...]
CFIA to name food companies, importers that break rules
Mar 17th, 2011
By Sarah Schmidt, Postmedia News The federal government is starting to out food manufacturers that run into serious trouble with its inspectors, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said Wednesday. [More...]
Puffed-up food claims rampant: ex-CFIA official
Mar 8th, 2011
By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News Exaggerated food claims are rampant on labels in Canadian grocery stores, but government inspectors are right not to crack down on them, the former president of Canada’s food police says. [More...]
B.C. meat plant covers up positive E-coli test
Jan 20th, 2011
CBC.ca One of British Columbia’s largest meat processing plants covered up lab results that showed a sample of its product was contaminated with the deadly E. coli O157 strain, CBC News has learned. [More...]
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...]
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 [...]
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...]
Reality Check
Mar 17th, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 17 March, 2010 Ottawa — Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz’s appearance before the Agriculture Committee this afternoon will be an opportunity for the Minister to set the record straight on inspection of ready-to-eat meats produced for Canadian consumers. On Monday, the Minister misinformed the House of Commons. He said that plants that make [...]
