FOOD 4102 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Global Food Safety Initiative, Natural Health Product
2 May 2018
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4 Reie
Doering article (Foodborne illness and public health)
- Increase in world food trade, new emerging pathogens, the role of food processing operations
and the aging population have combines to create new challenges
- More than 250 different types of bacteria, parasites, viruses and toxins known to cause
foodborne illness (food poisoning)
- Now aware of 5 times the number of foodborne illness compared to 60 years ago
- Deadly to people such as children, pregnant women and elderly that are immune compromised
- Most foodborne illness goes unreported as it resembles symptoms of stomach flu
- A lab test would have to identify the illness-causing bacterium, recognize it as foodborne and
report it to the local health department which in turn would have to report to the federal Public
Health Agency of Canada
- Increasing travels, growing consumption of imported food products and microbial evolution are
factors that contributes to the increasing foodborne illness. Three main pathogens are
salmonella, listeria and toxoplasma
- Canada does not have a national foodborne illness surveillance program
- Enforcement of 13 federal statutes and 70 provincial statutes have been divided among
agriculture, health and fisheries environment and natural resource department
- Federal jurisdiction enact food inspection legislation is derived from section 91(2) [ trade and
commerce] and 92(13) [ property and civil rights]
- 91(27) gives federal government power over criminal law
- The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) carries out inspection, enforcement and
compliance activities that were formerly carried out by 4 federal departments: Health Canada,
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Fisheries and Oceans and Industry Canada. CFIA enforces 13
statutes and 34 sets of regulations
- Parallel legislative authority in relation to agriculture is granted to both the federal and
provincial governments. Provincial legislation is only effective as long as it is not repugnant to
any federal legislation
- Drug and Food Act came into force on October 25, 2012 and this is the most significant reform
of Canadian food law
- Ministerial Authorization (MA) can establish classes, set conditions and exempt from the Act and
its regulations various matters relating to claims and substances. Service standards after the
scientific assessment is completed are set out as six months for a new additive and only two or
three months for extensions of use.
- Provincial legislatures have enacted health legislation under their authority over matters of a
loal o piate atue. Enforcement can sometimes be carried out by the provinces, but it is
mainly done at the municipal health agency level
- Municipalities derive regulatory authority from provincial legislation and partial funding from
provincial ministries. Provides inspection services in food retail and food services establishments
as well as institutions such as hospitals, nursing homes and community kitchens and food banks
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2
- Federal Parliament cannot delegate power to a provincial legislature, and vice versa.
Government officials attempting to work in an area of shared such as food inspection always
confronted daily with a profound challenge
- Recalls are typically voluntarily
- Class 1 involves a situation were there is a reasonable probability that the use or exposure to a
product will cause serious adverse health consequences or death
- Class 2 situations exist where the probability of serious adverse health consequences is remote.
- Class 3 denotes a situation in which no adverse health consequences are likely to occur
- Sheila Weatherill concluded that there were several errors made by the company and the
government regulator. CFIA and Office of Food Safety and Recall (OFSR) generally followed all
the appropriate procedures, there was an inadequate co-ordination among the various
provincial ad federal public health agencies in the management of this multi-jurisdictional
outbreak
- Current issues in food safety regulation
• Traceability: ability to trace the history, application or location of an entity by
means of recorded info. The ability to track a food item forwards and backwards
through the food continuum or supply chain
• Fragmented Jurisdiction: Food safety must be the primarily goal and this can be
achieved by close collaboration among all relevant departments at all levels of
government
• Risk Analysis: classical model, risk assessments are carried out by scientists to
determine the likelihood of an event and the consequences if that should occur.
Risk management is carried out by others who take the risk assessment and
weigh it against the political, economic, ethical and social considerations,
making a policy decision and then explain the decision to the public by way of a
risk communication strategy. Risk assessments are far more subjective than
most scientists want to admit, and both risk management and risk
communication are more of an art than a science. There is also the perception
risk and the science risk, quite different yet commonly interchange. The
language of risk is not helpful when dealing with primarily with uncertainty
• Risk assessors are actually assessed situations of uncertainty and then engage in
complex iterative process with decision-makers to try to find ways to manage an
immediate issue fraught with multiple perspectives where the science, however
uncertain is important but rarely determinative, it is issue or crisis management
not risk management.
• International Trade Issues: single biggest factor affecting food safety regulation
today. Canada imports food and agricultural products from more than half the
countries in the world. Canada strive to obtain the benefits of trade
liberalization without sacrificing certain national sovereignty rights such as the
maintenance of national public health standards for safe food.
• Protectionist: prevent countries from using domestic standards as disguised
barriers to trade. Countries that adopt certain international standards are
deemed to be trade compliant without the need to establish any other scientific
basis.
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• Largest international effect to bring greater rigour and standardization to third
party audit systems is the Global Food Safety Initiative
CFIA
- protects Canadians from preventable health risks
- protect consumers through a fair and effective food, animal and plant regulatory regime that supports
competitive domestic and international markets
- sustain the plant and animal resource base
- otiute to the seuit of Caada foods suppl ad agiultural resource base
- provide sound agency management
A food safety investigation includes inspection and related activities undertaken by regulatory officials
to verify whether or not a food hazard which could cause human illness exists and to determine the
nature and extent of the problem which includes the determination whether there is additional affected
product that may be on the market
Food insecurity in Canada
1. Food insecurity significantly affects health
- associated with poorer physical and mental health in children
- associated with nutritional vulnerability, poor self-rated health, poor mental, physical and oral
health in adults
2. Household food insecurity is a strong predictor of healthcare utilization and costs
-increase in healthcare
3. Food bank use is a poor indicator of food insecurity
- food hait a help ut those ho suffe to affod ot tu to food hait fo help
4. An adequate and secure level of household income is strongly linked to food security
- low rate of food insecurity among Canadian seniors reflects the protective effects of our public
pension system
5. Relatively modest increase in income have been found to lessen food insecurity among low-
income families
- improve income and changes in employment can reduce food insecurity
The Food and Drugs Act (FDA) is the primarily legislation governing the safety and nutritional quality of
food sold in Canada. Its scope includes food labelling, advertising and claims; food standards and
compositional requirements; fortification; foods for special dietary uses; food additives; chemical and
microbial hazards.
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Document Summary
Increase in world food trade, new emerging pathogens, the role of food processing operations and the aging population have combines to create new challenges. More than 250 different types of bacteria, parasites, viruses and toxins known to cause foodborne illness (food poisoning) Now aware of 5 times the number of foodborne illness compared to 60 years ago. Deadly to people such as children, pregnant women and elderly that are immune compromised. Most foodborne illness goes unreported as it resembles symptoms of stomach flu. A lab test would have to identify the illness-causing bacterium, recognize it as foodborne and report it to the local health department which in turn would have to report to the federal public. Increasing travels, growing consumption of imported food products and microbial evolution are factors that contributes to the increasing foodborne illness. Three main pathogens are salmonella, listeria and toxoplasma. Canada does not have a national foodborne illness surveillance program.
