Canadian chicken boards have reaffirmed their support for national on-farm food safety initiatives and a decade-old Safe, Safer, Safest program.
The boards signed a memorandum of understanding in Halifax Aug. 12, outlining roles, responsibilities and authorities between provincial chicken boards and the Chicken Farmers of Canada aimed at producing high quality chicken.
The program, which involves extensive record keeping, on-farm audits and certification services for all chicken farmers, covers a variety of issues from cleaning the barn to shipping market-ready birds.
It was created to ensure traceability and disease and quality control and is based on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles.
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Clinton Monchuk, chief executive officer of the Chicken Farmers of Saskatchewan, called the memorandum of understanding a formal way to move forward with on-farm food safety programs already in place.
He said there is support from across Canada for the program, with all three prairie provinces already on board.
“There is 100 percent compliance.”
Monchuk said every new farmer must have his farm certified in a reasonable amount of time and abide by the standards set by the national agency.
“It makes sure there is consistency in food production, especially in chickens,” he said.
