U.S. auditors found enough deficiencies in Canada’s food safety system in 2012 to give it an "adequate" rating, the lowest allowed in order for Canada to continue to export meat products south of the border.
Inspectors called on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to improve oversight in areas including sanitation and the humane handling of animals.
The audit, completed in 2012 but released only last month, evaluated the systems that govern the processing of meat products being prepared for export to the United States. Inspectors with the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) visited two red-meat slaughter houses, four meat-processing plants, an egg processing plant, five government offices including CFIA headquarters, and two private laboratories between Oct. 22 and Nov. 9, 2012.
In a report sent to the CFIA on Dec. 9, auditors said the CFIA’s performance is "adequate" in maintaining slaughter and processing systems equivalent to that in the U.S., the lowest of three possible ratings required to be allowed to continue exporting meat south of the border.
The audit found that the CFIA has to improve its oversight of hazard identification at plants, as well as sanitation and the humane treatment of animals.
Some issues identified in the report:
- Pieces of meat and fat in wall crevices
- Steel frames falling on and injuring animals
- Flaking paint and rust
- Dust on ventilation systems
Among the facilities that U.S. investigators visited was the XL Foods plant in Alberta that was the subject of the largest meat recall in Canadian history over e. coli contamination. Auditors found "non-compliances" there in humane animal handling and sanitation.
At the XL plant, auditors found a contamination risk in dust on ventilators and blowers, while at a pig slaughter and processing facility in Langley, B.C., auditors found paint and rust flakes on overhead rails and pipes.
Other problems found during the site visits included cages and grates used to herd cattle to slaughter were falling on and injuring the animals.
The audit noted that on all of the “non-compliances” it found, the CFIA “took immediate corrective actions and instituted long-term preventive measures” to strengthen regulatory oversight.
"CFIA’s plan is clearly described with thirty actions that are already underway to develop and implement a sustainable internal inspection oversight role that allows continuous system improvement," the audit says, noting also the creation of a central office to co-ordinate decision-making in the food-inspection system.
"If these actions continue to be effectively implemented, the system weaknesses should be remedied and equivalence maintained," the report says.
What does an "adequate" rating mean?
Canadian officials told CTV’s Mercedes Stephenson that the FSIS brought in its new rating system last year, so this is the first time Canada has received this new rating of “adequate.”
Dr. Richard Arsenault, director of the CFIA’s meat programs division, says while the findings are taken "very seriously," it's important for people to realize that the system did get a "passing grade."
"We’re as confident in the (U.S.'s) system as we are in ours," Arsenault told CTV News Channel on Tuesday. “The system is working and the system will and can continue to improve.”
He added that since the audit in 2012, a lot of changes have been made. "I would say the system is in much better shape than last year."
The XL plant was in fact delisted on Sept. 13, 2012, before this audit, and reinstated on Dec. 7 of that year. Auditors were able to still observe operations there as processing continued for products destined for the domestic market.
