Posts tagged Food Inspectors

Carole Swan resigns

Ottawa (June 21, 2011) — Canadian Food Inspection Agency President Carole Swan is stepping down at the end of June, a full year ahead of the end of her appointment.  “We wish Carole well.  She had a tough job to do, made more difficult by chronic under funding, a reality that has prevented the CFIA [...]

Our inspectors can’t stop dangerous food imports

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 [...]

Briefing Note: Has a secret deal scuttled food inspection investment?

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 [...]

Feces in imported food from less developed countries a rising concern: scientist

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

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...]

Consumer groups irked over suspension of some food inspections

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

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...]

CFIA abandons key consumer protections

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CFIA abandons key consumer protections Ottawa (28 April 2011) The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has abruptly and without explanation cancelled or deferred inspection activity in important areas designed to protect consumers from unsafe food products and fraudulent practices. According to CFIA documents released this morning by the food inspectors’ union, the CFIA [...]

Canadian inspection agency gets additional $100 million

Five-year plan calls for inspector training, technological support By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News The Conservative government pledged Tuesday to boost spending on Canada’s food inspection system by $100 million over the next five years.  [More...]

No audit of meat plant inspectors done: Ritz

By Sarah Schmidt, PostMedia News Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz on Thursday conceded the government has not conducted an external audit to determine how many inspectors are needed to police Canada’s meat plants.  [More...]

Food safety watchdog still unclear on numbers

By Joanna Smith, The Toronto Star The federal food safety watchdog is still unable to say how many full-time inspectors work in ready-to-eat meat plants more than two years after a deadly nationwide outbreak of listeriosis traced to tainted deli meats.  [More...]

Feds say food system safe, inspectors beg to differ

By Laura Payton, QMi Agency Government experts say Canada’s food system is one of the safest in the world, but the union representing food agency inspectors says that’s not true.  [More...]

Government spins food safety

Ottawa (November 4, 2010) The federal government has failed to meet some of the most important recommendations for reform of Canada’s food inspection system made in the wake of the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis disaster, in spite of claims to the contrary, according to the federal food inspectors’ union. The Agriculture Union – PSAC leveled [...]

CFIA still moving on Listeria recommendations

By CBC News The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has made some changes to improve its monitoring of meatpacking plants but many of the recommendations made in the wake of the 2008 listeriosis outbreak that killed 23 people have yet to be implemented.  [More...]

Union says food inspection still falls short two years after listeriosis

By The Canadian Press  The Harper government says it’s making “considerable progress” implementing recommendations to prevent another deadly outbreak of listeriosis, but the union representing food inspectors isn’t buying it.  [More...]

Meat inspection remains dangerously inadequate – Shameful Government spin seeks to hide the facts

Ottawa (22 October, 2010) – Many of the  shortcomings that contributed to the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis disaster two years ago continue to plague the Canadian meat inspection system today, according to a new assessment of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s meat hygiene program released today. The internal assessment found the number of meat inspectors [...]

Thought for food

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 [...]

Conservatives defend food safety as furor grows over CFIA audit

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.

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

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

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...]

No one minding the food import store

Ottawa (23 September 2010)  Canadians worried about the safety of imported food will take no comfort from an internal audit of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s imported food safety program which condemns the Agency’s lack of a strategy, management and accountability for ensuring the foods imported into Canada are safe. According to the audit, “CFIA [...]

Meat packing plant caught fudging ‘best before’ dates

By Joanna Smith, The Toronto Star A Toronto meat packing plant was caught fudging the “best before” dates on packages of ham about a month before it had to recall peppercorn salami when samples tested positive for potentially deadly bacteria.  [More...]

Immediate action on food safety needs to be taken

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...]

Food Issues

Ottawa Citizen The federal government continues to have some explaining to do about Canada’s food-safety system.  [More...]

Pasteurization makes meat safer, scientist says

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...]

Minister defends meat-inspection system

By Christina Spencer, Sun Media The federal government defended its ready-to-eat meat-inspection system Wednesday after charges that it upholds a higher standard for meats destined for the United States than for foods consumed only in Canada.  [More...]

Deli meat OK for Canadians but off-limits to Americans

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

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 [...]

Walkom: Tainted meat and red tape

By Thomas Walkom, Toronto Star In theory, everyone likes getting rid of red tape. When federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced earlier this month that the Conservative government would set up a commission to do just that, many Canadians cheered.  [More...]

Minister defends food inspection system

By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz defended Canada’s food-safety system yesterday after internal records surfaced showing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is scrambling to maintain an increased presence at meat processing plants to adhere to American food-safety standards.  [More...]

Beef up number of food inspectors: Union

By Bryn Weese, Toronto Sun Canadian food inspectors are working overtime to meet American food safety standards, a move their union calls “unsustainable.”  [More...]

U.S. had to force Canada to beef up meat inspections: union

The Canadian Press The union representing the country’s food inspectors says Canada increased its meat-plant inspection schedule only after complaints from the United States.  [More...]

Questions raised about gap in food inspection standards

By Gloria Galloway, Globe and Mail As investigators probe an unusual number of listeriosis cases in Ontario this year alongside a new tainted-meat recall, food inspectors have raised fresh questions about gaps between Canadian and U.S. food safety regimes.  [More...]

U.S. regulations forcing more meat inspections in Canada

By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is scrambling to maintain an increased presence at dozens of large meat-processing plants after auditors from the United States Department of Agriculture found inspections were too infrequent to meet U.S. food-safety standards, newly released internal records show.  [More...]

Listeriosis cases linked to deli meat

By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service Ontario’s chief medical officer confirmed Friday a genetic match between listeriosis cases and contaminated deli meat produced at a federally regulated meat plant — the first match since Canada was rocked in the summer of 2008 with a deadly outbreak.  [More...]

Listeria spike triggers hospitalizations

By Robert Cribb, The Toronto Star Two Ontarians were hospitalized — and another two deaths are being investigated — in relation to a listeria outbreak traced to a Toronto deli meat manufacturer.  [More...]

Video: Chris Olsen on Maple Leaf recall

CTV British Columbia

Video: Inspecting Ottawa’s food inspector promise

Global National

Food inspectors ask: what’s in your sandwich?

MPs can vote for food safety even during prorogation FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ottawa – On behalf of the 11 to 13 million Canadians who are sickened every year by the food they eat, the food inspectors union delivered an electronic “sandwich” to every MP today which contains critical information about the risks Canadians face by [...]

PHANTOM TRUCKS SHOW NEW MEAT INSPECTION REGIME NOT WORKING: New Democrats Masse and Allen say safety of Canada’s food at risk

NDP Press Release WINDSOR – New Democrat Border Critic Brian Masse (Windsor-West) says disturbing new information about trucks carrying imported meats that are failing to report for inspections shows that the Harper government’s new food-safety regime simply isn’t working.[More...]

Feeling queasy

Ottawa Citizen Editorial  It has been 18 months since 22 Canadians died after eating tainted meat and, despite government assurances that food safety systems are more effective than ever, consumers ought to be skeptical.  [More...]

Government gets failing grade on food safety

By Christina Spencer, Parliamentary Bureau SUN News Service OTTAWA — The union representing federal meat inspectors has given the government a failing grade for moving too slowly to boost food safety since the listeriosis outbreak of 2008 that killed at least 22 people.  [More]

Food inspection agency hasn’t acted on safety recommendations: report

By Sarah Schmidt, Canwest News Service OTTAWA — The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Wednesday received a failing grade from its own meat inspectors for not acting on the “vast majority” of recommendations made six months ago to improve food safety. [More]

Federal Government gets failing grade on food safety

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ottawa – Inaction on food safety has earned the federal government a failing grade six months after the Prime Minister’s special investigator Sheila Weatherill tabled recommendations on how to prevent a repeat of the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis outbreak which killed 22 people and sickened many more. A mid-term report card on [...]

Mould, slime found at Listeria-stricken meat plant weeks after heavy cleaning

By: Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press OTTAWA – Newly released inspection reports reveal that a top-to-bottom scrubbing after a deadly listeriosis outbreak apparently didn’t fully cleanse a Maple Leaf Foods plant of mould, slime and meat debris, and that inspectors found a troubling lack of hygiene at the company’s Toronto facility just weeks after it [...]

Science union calls for quick action on food inspection services

The union representing scientists working for the federal government is calling for an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of food inspection in Canada. Montreal Gazette OTTAWA — The union representing scientists working for the federal government is calling for an immediate moratorium on the deregulation of food inspection in Canada. The Campaign for Public Science, [...]

Report on the listeriosis outbreak released – 57 recommendations made

Food safety investigation falls short

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Inspector shortage compromising food safety Ottawa – Many of Sheila Weatherill’s recommendations make a constructive and valuable contribution to improving the safety of food in Canada and should be implemented immediately, even though it appears that the CFIA and others in government have either withheld information or misled her, according to the [...]

Meat inspections lasted less than 2 hours a day

Officials spent most of their time on paperwork at Maple Leaf plant leading up to listeria crisis By: Robert Cribb, Toronto Star Federal inspectors monitoring the Maple Leaf plant at the centre of Canada’s largest listeria outbreak spent less than two hours a day at the facility – often dropping in for as little as [...]