RED DEER — A growing number of food companies are creating private labels with special claims to differentiate their products as healthier and safer for the environment.
“Consumers are increasingly interested not only in where their food comes from but how it was produced. That creates some information challenges,” said economist Jill Hobbs of the University of Saskatchewan.
There is a trend toward local food, but there is no guarantee it is safer or has a smaller environmental footprint, she told an April 30 Alberta Agriculture Economists Association meeting in Red Deer.
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This challenge is pressing farmers to do more, but in many cases no one is willing to pay more, said Darcy Fitzgerald, manager of Alberta Pork.
Canadian pork producers are accustomed to meeting higher standards for traceability, high quality meat and particular product specifications. Much of that high end product is exported to Japan, where those qualities are valued.
“One gets paid for the strengths,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we don’t always get paid in our own country for where we are asked to do all the social licence stuff, but we are getting paid outside the country.”
Canadian farmers may be criticized for the way hogs are raised, but too often the public does not know they abide by environmental regulations, quality assurance programs, animal welfare schemes and worker safety.
Governments set out basic food safety standards, but more companies are developing private programs that set out specifications for suppliers and stipulate certain sanitary standards and specific production standards. An example is the A & W restaurant campaign that offers beef that has not been raised with added hormones or antibiotics.
In some cases, firms join together to create standards expected of suppliers across international boundaries, said Hobbs.
These schemes make it easier to procure raw materials and may limit to whom producers can sell.
For example, the European Globalgap program is a set of agriculture practices to show suppliers what is expected in food safety, worker health and safety, animal welfare and environment. It is not intended as a consumer signal, but it is an important standard for suppliers selling to the EU.
The Red Tractor logo is a United Kingdom scheme developed by producer organizations that outlines food safety and quality, animal welfare, environment and traceability standards. Products for sale at retail earn the Red Tractor logo if they meet the assured food standards.
CanadaGAP, which is offered through the Canadian Horticultural Council, covers firms that produce, pack, store and sell fruits and vegetables at the wholesale level. It is a hazard analysis and critical control points program that includes farm practices.
The retailer driven Global Food Safety Initiative is designed to im-prove food safety management systems to benchmark existing food safety standards in countries and businesses. The initiative examines programs and determines where they are equivalent.
CanadaGAP has been recognized with equivalent standards to similar programs in other countries.
