Canada's food safety criticized

Canada not doing enough to ensure food is safe

QMI Agency 
Wednesday, April 13, 2011


An editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says Canada is not doing enough to ensure food is safe.

The editorial, which was published Wednesday, notes a world ranking by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development shows Canada is in the middle of the pack when it comes to controlling some food-borne pathogens.

"Canada's public and private sectors are not doing enough to prevent food-borne illnesses," wrote Dr. Paul Hebert, editor-in-chief with co-authors. "Among the major failings are inadequate active surveillance systems, an inability to trace foods from 'farm to fork' and a lack of incentives to keep food safe along the 'farm to fork' pathway."

The editorial calls for more rigorous food safety standards and surveillance. This can be done, the authors say, through better government policies and standards.

"Private and public oversight of food safety should be reformed to ensure sufficiently uniform practices across the country so that we can make comparisons among different regions, suppliers and types of food," the editorial states. "Food will never be sterile and risk-free. However, without changes, many people will be harmed and some will die because of preventable contamination."