RICHMOND, B.C. – With an address like Camelot Drive, the Canada Food Inspection Agency staff feel like champions leading the charge for food safety.
And implementing a national program of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points has become a personal cause for David Rideout, the executive director of the fish inspection division of the agency.
He said the entire approach is called HACCP Plus or the integrated inspection service.
Launched April 1 this year, the service was drawn together by Ottawa to consolidate 13 pieces of legislation and four government departments responsible for food safety, inspections, labeling, animal health and plant breeders’ rights.
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“For me, HACCP Plus is a quality management system,” said Rideout at a special meeting of the Canada Food Institute.
Held in Richmond, just south of Vancouver, the meeting drew food processors, importers, exporters and government representatives to talk about how the agency will affect their businesses.
Who does what
Ottawa expects industry to set quality standards, while government will verify that industry follows the rules, said Rideout.
“There will always be people who don’t comply,” he said.
International standards demand safe and quality food, he said, and a few careless producers could terminate international agreements on grading and food safety standards.
Some critics charged the new system invites wider health risks because there are fewer inspectors and the industry must police itself.
Agency representatives argue the system can detect and deal with problems quickly.
Last month alfalfa sprouts were pulled from grocery store shelves across Canada because of a rare form of salmonella contamination. Agency representatives estimated about 100 people were ill after eating them.
Some critics say that’s inevitable because the agency reduced the number of food inspectors in the country when it formed.
But Chris Kyte, executive director of the Food Institute of Canada, said fewer inspectors in plants won’t reduce the quality of Canadian food.
“It doesn’t have any impact on the safety of our food,” he said. “I like HACCP because it puts discipline into plants,” he said.
Constant testing
Instead of testing food products at the end of the manufacturing process, food processing plants are under constant scrutiny from the time the raw product enters the plant until it becomes the finished goods. Plants are implementing food safety training for staff and they must conduct thorough microbiological tests throughout their processing systems to ensure no bacterial contamination exists.
The agency should also force more uniform inspection standards across the country.
However, Kyte is concerned about the move to harmonize inspection and grading standards between countries. As Canada embraces a continental economy, it may actually lower some standards. He wants a consumer oriented food act which may be part of the structure of a new Canada Food Act.
Tom Beaver, of the food law task force within the agency, heads a group reviewing all 13 acts governing food in Canada. His report and recommendations for change are due next April.
Beaver said some groups talk about implementing a gate-to-plate food safety program under agency auspices. While Canada will do its best to guarantee safety along the food chain, it is difficult if the farmgate is in Argentina and the plate is in Vancouver, he said.
