Food processors spy shortcomings in CFIA regulatory plan

Food processors spy shortcomings in CFIA regulatory plan

There are five key shortcomings that need to be fixed, food industry reps say

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency thinks it’s on the home stretch of its overhaul of food safety regulations but the food industry says there’s still work to be done. CFIA says the revamp will finally compete the implementation of the Safe Food for Canadians Act passed by the Harper government in 2012 and it’s planning


Craig Koenig, CFIA’s regional chief inspector for Manitoba, told a Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association meeting his staff are willing to work with private pedigreed seed inspectors to help them do a better job.

Privatized seed inspection sore point for growers

Critics say the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is treating Manitoba differently than other provinces, but add it can fix the problem by working more closely with private inspectors

Manitoba pedigreed seed growers say they’re being held to a more rigid standard than farmers in other provinces. The complaints, levelled at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) were raised at a Manitoba Seed Growers’ Association (MSGA) meeting here Nov. 30. The allegations, which CFIA officials denied, come from some seed growers and companies providing

pig in trailer

Licensing program promises domestic wash stations: Manitoba Pork

The Manitoba Pork Council wants trucks washed in Canada, and it looks like it’s going to get its wish

Empty swine trucks crossing over the border may be washed in Manitoba in 2018, a move sure to please the Manitoba Pork Council. MPC has lobbied the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to seal trucks at the border and wash them at a certified station in province. “They seem to be warming up to it,” MPC


Traceability changes to jumpstart enforcement in livestock movement reporting

Traceability changes to jumpstart enforcement in livestock movement reporting

Manitoba producers without a premise 
ID might find it hard to ship livestock once 
the Canadian Food Inspection Agency 
announces traceability changes 
expected next spring

The countdown is on for Manitoba beef producers to get a premise ID or risk being unable to ship cattle to feedlots. The beef industry is one of several (including sheep and poultry) facing changes by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency within the next year. The CFIA has promised tighter controls over livestock traceability and

CFIA turns 20 with no fanfare

Founding executive says he’s surprised there wasn’t at least some notice of the milestone

In this year of celebrating Canadian anniversaries, one has passed by with almost no notice. Well at least until Ron Doering pointed out that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which he helped create, passed its 20th anniversary in April. Doering led the team of federal officials who drafted the plan in 1995 to extract food


The introduced invasive species spotted knapweed is easily identified once the plant produces its distinctive bright-pink flowers. But at this stage it is already well past the stage where controlling its spread is easy or feasible, warns the Invasive Species Council of Manitoba.

Spotted knapweed could do more harm than leafy spurge

The ISCM declared August Invasive Species Month and is highlighting the risks associated with the potential spread of spotted knapweed

The Invasive Species Council of Manitoba wants all Manitobans to be on the lookout for an invasive plant species now spreading across Manitoba that has the potential to do as much or more damage as leafy spurge. Spotted knapweed was first detected in southeastern Manitoba in 2009 but has more recently been found at sites

Photo: Canada Beef Inc.

Livestock premises ID participation strengthens Canadian agriculture

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is considering changes to the Health of Animals Regulations for livestock traceability, the agency announced during PremisesIDWeek July 26, a federal release says. The changes would require all Canadian operators of premises where livestock may be loaded or unloaded from a vehicle to have a valid premises identification number for


Pork industry acting quickly on ractopamine finding in China

Pork industry acting quickly on ractopamine finding in China

Pork groups and the Can­adian Meat Council are working together to avoid any disruption to exports to China in the wake of a residue complaint from that country. China says it has found traces of the growth promoter ractopamine in a shipment of pigs’ feet. “Canadian Pork International, Canadian Pork Council and the Canadian Meat

Woman reading food labelling

Comment: Are you at risk?

Risk assessment, not blind fear of hazards, lets us all live our lives

Should GM be labelled? Is organic healthier? Does glyphosate cause cancer? Do you put your kids at risk if you feed them meat or is the caveman diet the way to go? Your good friend and neighbour thinks Gwyneth Paltrow is right about all this stuff, is she correct? All of these questions, and a