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

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...]

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...]

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...]

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...]

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

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...]

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...]

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]

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 section at the Public Service Alliance of Canada, told a parliamentary subcommittee probing the listeriosis crisis.

Twenty-two people died and hundreds more were sickened across Canada last summer after eating deli meats from a Maple Leaf Foods plant in Toronto tainted with bacteria called Listeria monocytogenes.

Kingston called for more staff and better training to ensure inspectors are not overworked to the point where it is impossible for them to carry out their assigned tasks.

He said that would include putting inspectors in charge of no more than two facilities. A union survey shows they are now responsible for an average of five.

Kingston also called for adequate training in the new Compliance Verification System and for the union to jointly evaluate its effectiveness with the food inspection agency.

The union has long complained the new system reduces the role of the inspector to an auditor who checks company paperwork. But Kingston said yesterday the system could work so long as the inspection agency has the resources to do it properly.

© Toronto Star