The Importance Of Food Safety In Canada

Food safety has become an important concern for government, with Canada’s Public Health Agency (PHAC) approximating 4 million cases of foodborne illness annually. Although the food safety is a shared responsibility among government, industry and consumer, Industry is faced with the fundamental objective of implementing an effective food safety management system with the goal of meeting government regulatory requirements. The importance of food production companies creating food safety values with ethics and beliefs that are intertwined with the goal of meeting government requirements cannot be over emphasized. With about 97% of food poisoning outbreak attributed to food handler error, and a great number from management ‘commitment’, there is therefore a need to incorporate specific conducts and views into food safety management systems if an effective food safety is to ne achieved in these modern times.
The Safe food act suggests amongst other changes, a single set of food inspection regulations that will apply to all food imported, exported and prepared for inter-provincial trade; stronger food safety and labelling rules; risk based food safety policies and programs for prevention and control of food hazards and expectantly, these changes will result in renewed food safety commitment by industry and an improvement in food safety. The question industry should be address now, is how their company’s food safety plans fit into Canada’s proposed SFCA; and how to achieve compliance and benefit from these new