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CanNAISS 2009 will begin
in August
Organic Food is No Healthier, Study Finds
FPT Ministers of Agriculture Take Action to Strengthen Sector
No Antibiotics
Amendment: US Poultry Industry
New Process
Turns Feather Meal Into Biodiesel
Conferences, Courses and
Workshops Sheila
Weatherill, the Independent Investigator commissioned by the Canadian
government to delve into the causes and actions taken during the
listeria outbreak in Canada last year that resulted in serious illness
for 57 vulnerable individuals and eventually cost the lives of 22
Canadians, released her report on July 21st. Ms. Weatherill and her team
reviewed a data base that summarized in excess of 5.8 million pages of
information and conducted more than 100 interviews. As one of the
organizations interviewed by Ms. Weatherill, CPEPC received a copy of
the 181 page document. At the
outset of her report, Ms. Weatherill noted that Canada’s food safety
approach receives high marks and is considered among the best in the
world. A 2008 international food safety review ranked Canada fifth among
17 member countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD), identifying it as a superior system. However,
notwithstanding the confidence that most consumers have in our food
safety system, the investigation found problems that need to be
addressed to better protect Canadians. After in-depth analysis, and
expert advice from five food safety and public health authorities, the
investigation found weaknesses in four critical parts of the food safety
system: 1.
The focus on food safety among senior management in both the public and
private domains 2.
The state of readiness of the various governments 3.
The sense of urgency at the outset of the outbreak 4.
National communications with the public The report
chronicles what led to the outbreak, how the events unfolded, and how
well government and food safety partners responded and communicated.
Throughout the report, 57 recommendations are noted and summarized. The
report also notes progress that has been made since the outbreak.
Michael McCain, President and CEO of Maple Leaf Foods, whose Barter Road
plant was at the center of the outbreak, stated that this very thorough
report provides valuable insights and recommendations to improve
Canada’s food safety system. The report can be accessed at the following
links: English
report:
http://www.listeriosis-listeriose.investigation-enquete.gc.ca/lirs_rpt_e.pdf French
report:
http://www.listeriosis-listeriose.investigation-enquete.gc.ca/lirs_rpt_f.pdf Ms.
Weatherill notes that recommendations are only words on paper until they
are acted on and urges the federal government to give attention to food
safety as part of its fall 2009 agenda. For our part, CPEPC will review
the report and recommendations with other Industry Associations with the
goal of developing a consensus position that we can communicate to
government as they begin to tackle next steps this fall. CPEPC members
will receive updates on our efforts to produce this industry position
and be offered the opportunity for input.
CanNAISS 2009 will begin
in August We reported
in the July 3rd edition of Highlighter that CFIA and industry had been
engaged in discussions regarding the 2009 Canadian Notifiable Avian
Influenza Surveillance System (CanNAISS). At that time we gave readers
an update on the changes for 2009 including the regrouping of regions
and the addition of parent flock sampling and ducks, geese & specialty
flock sampling to the pre-slaughter component for roasters, turkeys and
spent layers that CPEPC members are familiar with from CanNAISS 2008. Earlier
this week, CPEPC chicken and turkey primary processing members received
a letter from Dr. Francine Lord of CFIA and a template for providing
slaughter schedules to CFIA. The letter notes that selected poultry
producers are required to make their birds available for sampling for
detection of AI as per the Health of Animals Act and that CFIA requires slaughter
schedules, beginning with August and September schedules to be forwarded
by August 7th. CPEPC and
our members continue to support pre-slaughter surveillance as the
preferred method for surveillance (in order to mitigate any consumer
confidence issues that could arise if a positive was found after product
was in the food chain). Beginning
in January 2010, pre-slaughter sampling and testing will become an
ongoing component of CanNAISS. CFIA will be requesting slaughter
schedules on a continuous and regular basis (rather than having more
flocks tested over the course of a few months, there will be fewer
flocks tested over the course of 12 months). CPEPC will be working with
CFIA in the coming months to design a process that will make this as
efficient as possible and will be looking to our members for their
input. The Public
Health Agency of Canada continues to monitor antimicrobial resistance in
the Agri-food sector through surveillance programs on farm, in abattoirs
and at retail. There are
42 abattoirs currently participating in the CIPARS (Canadian Integrated
Program for Antimicrobial Resistance) program. Twenty-nine abattoirs
have been sampling since the program’s inception in 2002 and thirty-six
abattoirs have been sampling for at least 5 years. Additional plants
continue to be enrolled to accommodate plant closures and adjustments in
sample sizes. Sample submission has been over 95% for each year since
sampling began. The CIPARS team is very grateful for this level of
support by industry. Given the very valuable contribution of the
abattoir component in the understanding of anti-microbial resistance
epidemiology along the food chain, and the importance of examining these
trends over time, CIPARS will continue sampling in the upcoming year. As
was done in previous years, a CIPARS representative will be contacting
plant management during the months of August and September to invite
them to participate in the upcoming year. For a link
to the complete update, click
here.
Organic Food is
No Healthier, Study Finds
Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food,
according to a major study published Wednesday.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said
consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its
perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an
estimated $48 billion in 2007.
A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific
literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no
significant difference.
"A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist
between organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs, but these
are unlikely to be of any public health relevance," said Alan Dangour,
one of the report's authors.
"Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the
selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis
of nutritional superiority."
The results of research, which was commissioned by the British
government's Food Standards Agency, were published in the American
Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
See
abstract from AJCN
Sales of organic food have fallen in some markets, including Britain, as
recession has led consumers to cut back on purchases.
The Soil Association said in April that growth in sales of organic
products in Britain slowed to just 1.7 percent in 2008, well below the
average annual growth rate of 26 percent over the last decade, following
a plunge in demand at the end of the year.
- Reuters July 29, 2009 (Reporting by Ben Hirschler; editing by Simon
Jessop
FPT Ministers of Agriculture Take Action to Strengthen Sector On July 10,
federal, provincial and territorial ministers met in Niagara-on-the-Lake
to discuss issues facing the agriculture and agri-food industry. The
Government of Canada and the provincial and territorial governments are
cost-sharing on a 60:40 basis, $1.3 billion in program funding to
support farmers and the agricultural sector across the country.
Additionally the federal government is investing $1.05 billion in
innovation, competitiveness, environment and food safety initiatives. Ministers
agreed to take a national, science-based approach on food safety and
directed officials to advance work in three key areas: enhanced
surveillance, pathogen reduction in meat and poultry, and common meat
hygiene standards. Ministers
have committed to move forward and dedicate $20 million toward on a
comprehensive national traceability system for livestock and poultry,
which is critical for managing animal health and food safety issues, as
well as expanding market access and driving efficiencies.
Traceability Press Release En Other areas
of discussion included bilateral free trade agreement negotiations,
business risk management (BRM) strategic review, livestock insurance,
the new Agricultural Flexibility Fund.
No
Antibiotics Amendment: US Poultry Industry
A large group of agricultural organisations, including many poultry
and egg organisations, has urged the speaker of the US House of
Representatives not to allow a bill to ban certain animal health
products to be tacked on to any pending legislation.
The Coalition for Animal Health, which includes organisations that
represent veterinarians, farmers and ranchers, food and feed producers
and animal medicine manufacturers, in a letter to speaker Nancy Pelosi,
asked that the ‘Preservation of Antibiotics for Medical Treatment Act of
2009’ not be added to bills now being considered, including food-safety
and health-care reform legislation.
The bill would ban from use in livestock and poultry animal health
products that are used to prevent and control diseases. Farmers only
would be allowed to use animal health products that treat diseases.
The bill also would require all ‘critical antimicrobial animal drugs’ to
go through a second US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval
process within two years of enactment of the legislation. Currently to
win approval, an animal drug maker must demonstrate that a product is
effective and safe for animals and for the environment. FDA also must
determine that new antibiotics for food animals will not harm human
health.
The legislation purports to address an increase in antibiotic-resistant
illnesses in humans. But, the coalition pointed out, numerous risk
assessments, including one conducted by FDA, have shown risk levels
associated with antibiotic use in agriculture to be extremely low,
and nationally recognised scientific studies have shown that the removal
of important animal health products could actually increase food-safety
risks.
In the European Union, antibiotics for preventive use in livestock
production, have been forbidden since January 1, 2006.
In its letter, the coalition also noted that the food-safety and
health-care reform bills are based on the important principle of
prevention.
“It would be ironic and inconsistent to add an amendment that would
remove important tools for disease prevention used in veterinary
medicine,” said the coalition. “Veterinary medicine has long employed
prevention as the preferred option for dealing with diseases, and
antibiotics are an important tool in the prevention toolbox.”
Among the groups in the Coalition for Animal Health are the National
Chicken Council, the National Turkey Federation, United Egg Producers
and the US Poultry and Egg Association.
www.worldpoultry.net
New Process
Turns Feather Meal Into Biodiesel Researchers
at the University of Nevada have developed a green process to produce
biodiesel from feather meal. Kondamudi
and colleagues at the University of Nevada have published a paper in the
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry describing a new process to
produce biodiesel from feather meal. This paper
describes a new and environmentally friendly process for developing
biodiesel from commercial feather meal, a waste product of the poultry
industry. Currently, feather meal is used as an animal feed, given its
high protein content, and also as a fertilizer because of its high
nitrogen content. In this
work, the researchers extracted fat from the feather meal in boiling
water (70°C) and then trans-esterified the fat into biodiesel using
potassium hydroxide and methanol; 7 to 11 per cent biodiesel (on a dry
basis) is produced in this process. ASTM
analysis of the prepared feather meal biodiesel confirmed that the
biodiesel is of good quality and comparable to other biodiesels made
from other common feedstocks. Given the
amount of feather meal produced by the poultry industry, it is estimated
that this process can create 150-200 million gallons of biodiesel in the
United States and 593.2 million gallons worldwide.
www.thepoultrysite.com Suddenly July 24, 2009 in Vernon BC, Gregg Marshalsay,
age 53, former employee
of Lilydale Foods. Following his departure from Lilydale, Gregg was a candidate for a couple of positions in the
industry and eventually established his own company, Marshalsay and
Associates.
He will be missed by friends Ken Van Dyk
(Everglade Enterprises) and Bob Koehler
(Meyn Canada). A family-only graveside service will be held in
Lethbridge.
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Department of Commerce Commercial Service invites U.S. exporters to
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