August 11, 2011 – Ottawa plans to dump inspection of some meat plants onto the Manitoba government in a move that will expose Manitoba consumers to heightened risk of eating contaminated meat products, according to the Agriculture Union – PSAC, which represents federal food safety inspectors.
August 11, 2011 – Ottawa plans to
dump inspection of some meat plants onto the Manitoba government in a
move that will expose Manitoba consumers to heightened risk of eating
contaminated meat products, according to the Agriculture Union – PSAC,
which represents federal food safety inspectors.
After providing meat safety inspection service for decades, the union has been advised by Canadian Food Inspection Agency federal inspectors will no longer check the 28 meat plants that produce for Manitoba consumers exclusively for E. coli, listeria, salmonella and other contaminants that can have deadly consequences when eaten.
No later than January 2014, responsibility will fall to the province of Manitoba which currently has no meat inspectors and little of the support infrastructure needed to do the job to current safety standards.
CFIA inspectors will continue to conduct food safety work in meat plants that are federally registered, a situation that will widen the existing gap in federal and provincial meat inspection safety standards.
"To save a few bucks, the federal government is creating a two-tiered food safety system in which some Canadians enjoy higher standards while others suffer higher risk," said Agriculture Union Regional Vice-President Sam Barlin.
The union is launching an online petition at www.FoodSafetyFirst.ca calling on the government to change its plans.
"Consumers expect their meat products to be inspected for safety by the CFIA. Otherwise, there is no way for consumers to know if the meat they buy has been properly inspected," Barlin said.
This morning, the Agriculture Union released the text of a letter from its President, Bob Kingston, taking the federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, who is responsible for the CFIA to task, for this decision.
"This is much more important than some federal/provincial squabble over tax points or jurisdiction. No responsible Minister should allow people to be exposed to dangerous products in this manner. I urge you to re-consider this decision. Lives could depend on it."
For the government of Manitoba, the cost of meat inspection will triple because CFIA has provided this service below cost for some years. With less than half of the required budget, the provincial government's plan to establish a replacement program starting in mid-2013 with the hiring of approximately 15 meat inspectors is makeshift at best.
"It takes two to three years of classroom and workplace training for a meat inspector to acquire the knowledge they need to do the job. Six months is simply not enough time to get the program operating before Ottawa leaves. The bottom line is that by walking away from this responsibility, the federal government is needlessly exposing consumers to elevated risks from eating meat produced in provincial registered establishments," Barlin said.
Ottawa is also abandoning inspection of provincially registered meat plants in Saskatchewan and British Columbia which, like Manitoba, have no meat inspectors.
As a result of this decision, inspection of meat from provincially registered facilities in these provinces may fall below acceptable standards, and will certainly be beneath the standards and meat inspection practices enjoyed by Canadians living elsewhere. For example, the provincial meat inspection system in Alberta and Ontario is well established and well supported, so meat inspection conducted in these provinces will be superior.
Provincial meat inspection standards are often much less stringent than those that are in place for federally registered facilities. This fact was painfully underscored by a recent high profile incident at the Pitt Meadows Meats Ltd in British Columbia. Soon after the facility owner publicly admitted hiding test results from the federal meat inspector which indicated dangerous E. coli O157:H7 contamination at the facility, he opted out of the federal inspection regime entirely and registered as a provincial facility which allowed his plant to meet the lower provincial standard and to keep operating without missing a beat.
The federal government is resurrecting the plan to abandon this service in BC, Saskatchewan and Manitoba after it was shelved following the Maple Leaf food poisoning outbreak.
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