The current list:
Ruth Brinston has a simple desire. She wants to be able to buy irradiated beef at her local grocery store in Ottawa. The semi-retired scientist and consultant has been studying and promoting irradiation for 30 years and has no qualms about its ability to improve food safety by killing E. coli and other dangerous bacteria. […] Read moreTag Archives Food Safety — page 3
Hard to kill
Seventy-one Celsius is the recommended temperature for cooking hamburgers to kill any bacteria they might contain. Now research indicates 71 C is not enough to kill some forms of E. coli, including some that are dangerous to humans. It opens the door to new worries about food safety. Lynn McMullen, a food biologist and professor […] Read more
CFIA tests for glyphosate in food
Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it would begin testing foods and grains for residues of glyphosate. The testing, which is expected to start this spring, will be the first time the FDA has monitored food for glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup. The FDA decision was widely reported in […] Read more
Company gives ethics priority
BADEN, Ont. — Business acumen lies behind Pfenning’s Organic Farm, but another element to success is equally important, if not more so. “I’d rather lose money than compromise ethics,” Jenn Pfenning said. She and her husband, Ekk, operate the business with other family members. Ekk’s mother, Barnhild, is still involved. The family, which founded the […] Read more
Red meat declared cancer risk
Livestock and meat industry reactions to an international study that says hot dogs, bacon and other processed meat can cause cancer range from outrage to skepticism to pragmatism. A summary of the study conducted by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said there is “sufficient evidence” to link consumption of […] Read more
Food industry applauds food safety changes
The risk-based system opens door to innovation and allows industry to act quickly if changes to safety practices are needed
OTTAWA — The Canadian meat industry welcomes government plans to move toward risk based food safety assessments, but it also wants guarantees the new approach is fair and easy to implement. “This should provide for a regulatory environment that permits competitiveness and facilitates innovation while improving food safety outcomes,” said Henry Mizrahi, past-president of the […] Read more
Meat grading overhaul long time coming
Despite an agreement in 2011 to change from three yield classes to five, changes have been stalled by regulations
The head of the Canadian Beef Grading Agency would change the way millions of cattle are graded each year if she had her way. Cindy Delaloye said proposals have been made since 2011 to change the current system of three yield classes to five, which would more accurately assess modern beef carcasses. However, not much […] Read more
U.S. industry leaps to defend safety of poultry meat
Responding to study | Consumer Reports says it finds bacteria in chicken
WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters) — U.S. poultry producers have dramatically reduced the presence of harmful bacteria in poultry meat, a trade group said while defending the industry’s food safety record. “The numbers tell us we’re making tremendous progress,” the National Chicken Council said in a statement that described poultry as overwhelmingly safe to eat. It pointed […] Read more
Union defends CFIA inspectors
XL Foods report | PSAC president says better training, more inspectors needed
Food inspectors at the XL Foods plant, which triggered the largest beef recall in Canadian history last year, were not the source of the problem, says their union leader. Bob Kingston, president of the agricultural union of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, said front-line inspectors were often following the lead of their managers. “It […] Read more
Welcome to new normal in food safety
Food traceability, which is a powerful tool to mitigate risks across food supply chains, does not guarantee food safety and integrity. Even so, the challenge of tracking food products and ingredients upstream and downstream touches on the core of what is required to manage risks posed by the new normal in the business of food […] Read more
