The painful BSE crisis has led to a major overhaul of Canada’s food safety system

The food safety system has changed dramatically since the so-called mad cow crisis 
grabbed headlines and closed the border a decade ago

Ten years have passed since Canadians learned that bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), better known as mad cow disease, had been discovered in an Alberta dairy cow. It was a bombshell that closed the border to beef exports, and caused painful financial losses to cattle producers even though Canadians kept buying domestic beef. While BSE didn’t

Veteran civil servant made his mark during the BSE crisis

Brian Evans retires from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency

After ages as the federal government’s public face of food safety, Brian Evans has taken a well-earned retirement, but not the quiet kind. In addition to being the country’s chief veterinary officer and chief food safety officer, Evans was the government’s main spokesman during the 2003 BSE crisis. But the biggest food safety event was


Mechanically tenderized meats will have to be labelled

As of July 2, federally inspected meat plants in Canada will be required to label beef steaks or roasts that have been mechanically tenderized, the federal government announced May 17. The move is part of new mandatory federal requirements designed to strengthen control over E. coli. Contaminated needles used to mechanically tenderize meat were identified



Grain Growers funded to promote grain sales

Fifty thousand dollars in federal government money is going to the Grain Growers of Canada to promote Canadian grain, which will include sending farmers on overseas trade missions. It’s part of $208,000 David Anderson, parliamentary secretary for the Canadian Wheat Board, announced here Nov. 21 during the annual Grain Industry Symposium organized by the Canada

Independent look at XL needed

Four years ago, the Harper government was mired in the Maple Leaf listeria crisis and sought to reassure voters in the upcoming federal election by appointing an independent inquiry into the deadly event. While the XL Foods E. coli incident has produced only four confirmed cases of illness compared to the 22 deaths and scores


Federal food laws face overhaul

The Harper government is putting the finishing touches to a major revamp of federal food laws to make processors and manufacturers more responsible for food safety while inspectors focus on the risky segments of the business. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is expected to present the legislation, known unofficially as the Food Act, to Parliament sometime

CFIA applies new rules to food importers

Two years after admitting that it didn’t have a registry of food importers, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is finally proposing to introduce a licensing regime for the estimated 25,000 businesses, which bring foreign-made food or beverages into Canada. The government announced a Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan in 2007, which was to include measures


Ritz says budget cuts won’t affect food safety

Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz is brushing off accusations that cuts at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency will eliminate the jobs of 100 veterinarians and inspectors. Reductions will be predominantly “backroom changes,” said Ritz. “Anyone who says this will affect food safety is off the mark,” he said. But the president of the agriculture division of

Farm leaders waiting to see how budget cuts play out

Agriculture Canada will have its $3-billion-a-year budget chopped by 10 per cent during the next few years — but details are scarce. Both the Canadian Federation of Agriculture and Grain Growers of Canada said they wouldn’t judge the budget until they learned more about how the reductions will be implemented. “Although on the surface the