Posts tagged PSAC

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...]

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...]

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...]

Kellogg’s Warned Over Listeria in Eggo Plant

Food Safety News
Sometimes you just want to put a problem behind you, but it just sticks around like duct tape.
A new “Warning Letter” from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to the Kellogg’s Company raises questions about whether the Listeria problem at its Atlanta Eggo plant is truly resolved. [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]

Tainted meat linked to shortage of inspectors

By: Joanna Smith, Toronto Star
OTTAWA – The head of the federal food inspectors’ union said an outbreak of deadly bacteria traced to ready-to-eat meats might have been prevented if the Canadian Food Inspection Agency had hired twice as many watchdogs.
“I think it’s likely that it might not have happened,” Bob Kingston, president of the agriculture [...]

Canada’s food safety in question

Inspection understaffed, warns union
By: Sarah Schmidt, The Windsor Star
Government meat inspectors in Canada’s biggest cities would have to work double shifts on a regular basis to complete all the tasks required to make sure operators are complying with food safety rules, according to newly released data from their union.
The agriculture union of the Public Service [...]

Few meat inspectors mean more ’shortcuts’

By: Robert Cribb, Toronto Star
Federal meat inspectors are each responsible for monitoring about five plants on average – a workload that makes ensuring safe food impossible, says their union.
In a staffing survey to be released today, the agriculture union says it’s impossible for meat inspectors to complete minimum safety tasks in more than two plants.
In [...]

CFIA can’t track meat-inspector numbers

By: Sarah Schmidt, The Ottawa Citizen
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency cannot be sure how many meat inspectors are stationed at plants across the country, according to an agency briefing note released to parliamentarians as they begin their investigation into the state of food safety.
The document didn’t sit well with members of the special parliamentary committee, [...]

Food agency can’t count staff

By: Joanna Smith, Toronto Star
OTTAWA–The federal food safety watchdog told a parliamentary committee it does not know how many meat inspectors it employs eight months after a nationwide outbreak of deadly listeriosis bacteria found in ready-to-eat meats.
“Given that there are a number of positions that are multi-purpose, in that they do not focus on one [...]

Vote for better food safety policies, unions say

CBC News
Canadians should vote for the candidate who commits to improving food safety, two unions urged as they launched a national advertising campaign on Friday.
A single strain of listeria has been linked to 16 deaths traced to a Maple Leaf Foods meat processing plant in Toronto, prompting a nationwide recall of meat products.
The timing of [...]