Food safety

UK seeks source of horse and pig DNA found in beef

Topics: 
Europe, Food safety, Food industry
Rating: 
2

Dan Flynn – February 7, 2013

Polish horse meat mislabeled as beef is the likely source of the equine DNA found in Irish beef products, but the Food Safety Agency in the United Kingdom is still going ahead with tests on more meat samples collected from retail outlets throughout the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Environmental officers for local health authorities are being asked to follow a sampling plan that will end up with a total of 224 meat samples being collected. Results of the initial screening are to be reported by March 11, with confirming tests to be completed by April 8.

Review to examine E. coli outbreak, beef recall

Topics: 
Food safety, CFIA, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
3

The Canadian Press – February 9, 2013

The federal government has launched a review of the E. coli outbreak last fall that sickened 18 people and led to the largest beef recall in Canadian history.

The review is to focus on what contributed to the outbreak of the potentially deadly bacteria at the XL Foods Inc. plant in Brooks, Alta. It will also look at how well the Canadian Food Inspection Agency performed, including why tainted meat was distributed to retailers and sold to consumers.

Government to oppose legislation to reduce sodium consumption

Topics: 
Public health & safety, Food safety
Rating: 
3

Sarah Schmid –February 4, 2013

Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Friday the government will oppose legislation that would require her to implement recommendations of her own expert panel aimed at getting Canadians to use less salt.

A private member’s bill from NDP health critic Libby Davies, debated at second reading in the House of Commons on Friday, calls on Aglukkaq to act on the advice of members of the Sodium Working Group, convened by her Conservative predecessor in the health portfolio, Tony Clement, to devise a strategy to reduce the sodium intake of Canadians.

Silence on the slaughterhouse floor

Topics: 
Food safety, Workplace conditions, Public health & safety, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
4
The following are selected extracts

Jean Lian – January 10, 2013

The recent meat recall at XL Foods Inc. in Brooks, Alberta is not wanting in superlatives. It is one of the most massive meat recalls in Canadian history involving one of the country’s largest beef packing plants that processes more than 4,000 head of cattle a day.

Meat tainted with E. coli sickened a four-year-old boy and numerous others, resulting in the facility being shut down for a month and thousands of workers laid off.

B.C. food company faces charges for E. coli contamination

Topics: 
BC, Food safety, Food industry, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
3
Pitt Meadows Meats

Curt Petrovich – January 16, 2013

Officials at a B.C. meat plant say charges of selling beef from a batch of meat that tested positive for E. coli 0157 two years ago are "unfounded" and will be challenged "vigorously" in court.

Pitt Meadows Meats is facing 11 charges under the Food and Drugs Act, for allegedly selling food that was unfit for human consumption. The charges stem from beef trim the company is accused of selling to 11 different markets and restaurants in September 2010.

E. coli strain blamed for five illnesses matched to burgers recalled across Canada

Topics: 
Food safety, Food industry, Public health & safety
Rating: 
4

December 17, 2012

Government inspectors have linked Canada’s latest E. coli outbreak to a recalled batch of Butcher’s Choice brand beef burgers sold across the country. The strain of E. coli bacteria found in Butcher’s Choice Garlic Peppercorn Beef Burgers was the same one that made five people sick in Ontario and Alberta, officials told a news conference Monday.

“All of this product was recalled from the marketplace between Dec. 12 and Dec. 15,” said Paul Mayers, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s vice-president of programs. The frozen burgers are sold at Loblaws stores across Canada.

E. coli strain blamed for five illnesses matched to burgers recalled across Canada

Topics: 
Food safety, CFIA
Rating: 
3

December 17, 2012

Government inspectors have linked Canada’s latest E. coli outbreak to a recalled batch of Butcher’s Choice brand beef burgers sold across the country. The strain of E. coli bacteria found in Butcher’s Choice Garlic Peppercorn Beef Burgers was the same one that made five people sick in Ontario and Alberta, officials told a news conference Monday.

“All of this product was recalled from the marketplace between Dec. 12 and Dec. 15,” said Paul Mayers, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s vice-president of programs. The frozen burgers are sold at Loblaws stores across Canada.

Antibiotics banned in EU unleash deadly bacteria

Topics: 
Pharmaceutical industry, Food industry, Food safety, Public health & safety, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
2

Dr. Mercola – December 19, 2012

The United States uses nearly 30 million pounds of antibiotics annually in food production. Livestock antibiotic use accounts for 80 percent of the total antibiotics sold in the US, and unnecessary use of antibiotics in food animals (cows, pigs, chickens, and turkeys) is a major driving force behind the rampant development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Compare this to the 6 million pounds of antibiotics that are used for every man woman and child in the US combined. But unlike human use, in which antibiotics are prescribed to treat serious infection, in animals, drugs such as penicillins and tetracyclines are routinely added to animal feed as a cheap way to make the animals grow faster.

Alberta meat packer shut over incorrect information on potentially tainted food

Topics: 
Alberta, Food safety, Food industry, CFIA
Rating: 
4
The following are selected extracts

John Cotter – November 23, 2012

Canada’s food safety regulator says it suspended an Alberta meat packer’s operating licence because the company gave wrong information about a product that could contain potentially dangerous bacteria.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency shut down Edmonton-based Capital Packers on Thursday and announced the company was recalling two brands of ham sausages. The agency said when a test for Listeria on a worker’s clothing came back positive on Monday, the company said none of the sausages had been distributed to retailers.

Federal meat inspectors at XL Foods plant told to 'ignore' contamination

Topics: 
CFIA, Food safety, Regulatory oversight
Rating: 
4
The following are selected extracts

Renata D'Aliesio and Jill Mahoney – November 29, 2012

Canada’s food-inspection agency is rejecting claims of a two-tier safety system, contending beef destined for Canadian dinner plates receives the same scrutiny as meat exported to Japan.

The union representing federal inspectors had raised concerns about the handling of cattle carcasses at the embattled XL Foods beef-processing plant in meetings last month with Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz and Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) brass.

Pages

Subscribe to Food safety