LETHBRIDGE, Alta. – Food safety is the number one issue raised in a national study of the pork industry.
“The biggest concern by a country mile was food safety,” said Paul Hodgman, manager of public affairs for Alberta Pork.
The Canadian pork industry commissioned Angus Reid to survey the attitudes of 1,200 urban and rural people. Many of the concerns raised were the same wherever people were located.
“Many of these things were known, but we didn’t know the extent,” Hodgman said at a pork producers meeting in Lethbridge.
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He focused on responses from the Prairies but said attitudes were similar across the country.
Food safety includes the way pigs are handled, treatment for disease, housing and general animal welfare issues.
In Alberta, 76 percent said they want assurances that the product is safe to eat. Saskatchewan and Manitoba were close behind at 72 and 70 percent respectively.
Most people believe farmers are working to ensure they are producing pork that is safe to eat.
This is encouraging news for the quality assurance program, a voluntary program for farmers to guarantee their hogs are medication and disease free. Organizations like Alberta Pork are pushing for more producers to join the program to guarantee food safety.
“If you are not on quality assurance, you’ll have real trouble selling your pigs,” said Hodgman.
In addition to what happens on the farm, support was high for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency system. Eighty percent of those surveyed in Saskatchewan have faith in the agency’s abilities to properly inspect food followed by 77 percent in Alberta and 76 percent in Manitoba.
Ensuring the economic survival of hog farms received less support.
Less than half of those surveyed in Alberta wanted hog farms protected while support was a little higher in Saskatchewan at 58 percent and 51 percent in Manitoba.
Three-quarters of the people surveyed object to the concept of genetically modified pork and the same amount is worried about the amount and type of antibiotics provided to hogs. There was also some concern over genetically modified feeds for hogs.
Nearly 80 percent are concerned about using hormones to stimulate pig growth.
“They’re afraid of hormones even though we don’t use them,” Hodgman said.
Seven out of 10 Canadians care about how hogs are raised.
“People feel barns are like factories and that will come back to haunt us,” said Hodgman.
Environmental attitudes were also analyzed.
Odor problems did not appear to be a major issue for city dwellers but rural people ranked the problem as more serious.
About 65 percent want the industry regulated to guard against pollution of water and air. A large majority said they are concerned about water contamination and only a third worry about soil contamination.
