WINNIPEG – Industry officials are calling on pork producers to take extra care when giving needles to their animals after the tip of an injection needle was discovered in a shipment of pork to a Japanese company.
Ted Muir, public relations director for Manitoba Pork, confirmed the marketing agency learned of the incident, which involved pork from Manitoba, in early September.
Muir called the case an isolated incident.
“I guess you’ve got two option. You can sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn’t happen, or you can be proactive … and advise our members of the incident and more importantly, how to avoid it in the future,” Muir said.
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Reputation to uphold
The incident has added significance in a province that exports 80 percent of its pork.
“We’ve got to continue to remain vigilant and squeaky clean. We can’t afford any mishaps, and obviously they’re accidental, but when we’ve got a market that’s very fussy in terms of their product … we’ve got to provide them with what they’re demanding or we’ll lose this market,” he said.
Muir said Manitoba Pork “continues to enjoy a business relationship” with the company that received the shipment.
Manitoba Pork chair Ken Foster said he doesn’t think the incident has damaged the industry’s reputation.
Producer responsible
Foster said the producers are ultimately responsible for hogs shipped from their farms, and he said the inspection system here is “as good as anywhere in the world.”
Inspectors from Agriculture Canada were not available for comment.
Bill McLean, general manager of J.M. Schneider Inc.’s Winnipeg plant, said unless each animal is X-rayed, it is impossible for inspectors to detect a needle tip.
McLean said metal detectors could not detect a needle tip because it is too far inside the animal. He added producers should only inject animals if they have to, and should use the utmost of care.
“You’ve got to remember that’s going to get to a customer somewhere,” McLean said, adding that no one was hurt in this case.
“And if it gets to a customer … what do you do? For the sake of a nail, a shoe was lost,” McLean said.
Muir said a new quality assurance program at Manitoba Pork will help avoid similar incidents. The program will include farm visits by livestock specialists.
