Food issues

The Ottawa Citizen
March 24, 2010


The federal government continues to have some explaining to do about Canada's food-safety system.

This is the same federal government that vowed to restore public confidence in food safety after a deadly outbreak of listeriosis in processed meats in 2008 that killed 22 people and sickened more. Last September, a damning report on the outbreak recommended more than 50 changes to tighten the system, including the hiring of more inspectors.

Last week, Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz was once again defending the system as it is. One has to wonder if the government has really learned a lesson from the 2008 outbreak.

Among the strongest criticisms of Canada's regime in the wake of that sad incident was the chronic shortage of inspectors, whereby companies, in turn, wield too much responsibility for policing themselves. Canada's food-inspection agency still has not hired 70 additional food inspectors recommended in the report. (Though Ritz says 40 of those inspectors should be in place by the end of the month and that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is being given the resources to hire and train additional inspectors.)

A recent revelation that the agency had to ramp-up its inspection schedule to meet U.S. standards for export should also cause Canadians to wonder whether the current regime is really as effective as the federal government claims it is. What's more, inspectors have reportedly missed a persistent listeriosis problem in recent months at Siena Foods.

One expert, Rick Holley, a professor at the University of Manitoba, believes it's time that safety inspectors started looking for the source of food contamination rather than focusing on food recalls. His suggestion is worth consideration, as one step toward constructing a system with more safeguards.

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