CANADA: City makes solid progress on food safety measures

09.sep.11
OttawaStart.com

The City of Ottawa has seen significant improvement in ensuring food safety through increased restaurant inspection rates, public access to online inspection results and an enhanced environmental health information system.
The City of Ottawa has implemented all 17 recommendations made by the Auditor General in a 2010 follow-up audit of a 2007 audit of the Food Safety Program. Improvements in inspection rates are attributable to the Auditor General’s recommendations and Council’s investments in this area.
“Ottawa Public Health has improved food safety for residents while facing numerous operational challenges such as the redeployment of staff during H1N1 pandemic response and mass vaccination campaign, the OC Transpo bus strike, floods and five large-scale food recalls,” said Dr. Isra Levy, Medical Officer of Health.
In 2010, every high-risk food premise in Ottawa received at least one inspection, with Ottawa Public Health achieving 93 per cent of the 10,422 mandated inspections in more than 5,000 establishments in Ottawa. New 2011 investments for two student public health inspector positions will help meet the work load and demand associated with food premises inspections.
Ottawa Public Health has developed a popular online restaurant inspection website which attracts an average of 1,100 webhits a day. OPH is committed to promoting and improving access to this important food safety information to the public.
OPH is currently exploring mandatory food handling training and will present a report on the subject to the Ottawa Board of Health in the first quarter of 2012. Ottawa Public Health currently offers a food handlers training program in English, French and Cantonese for operators at Ottawa food premises. In 2010, OPH certified 1,435 food handlers, a 44 per cent increase since 2008.