This week the federal government issued a progress report on actions it’s taken to strengthen food safety. The report is available on the CFIA site and it outlines significant progress made since the 2008 listeriosis outbreak and in response to the report delivered in 2009 by the independent investigator tasked to make recommendations around strengthening food safety systems.

Key to this has been new money it announced towards a five year Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan. Just one of the investments the government is making: $13 million for increased inspection capacity for meat and poultry processing facilities this year and next. It has also been linking up more laboratories to the PulseNet Canada network to allows DNA fingerprints across Canada to be compared and to identify sources of illness in real time. It outlined clearer roles and responsibilities in the event of health emergencies and new leadership with the appointment in May of a Chief Food Safety Officer. And it has improved communications outreach so it can better inform Canadians, including new online tools.

And the government is working with companies like ours to ensure the entire system – with public and private sector members – is working together. The new Agri-Subcommittee on Food Safety (ASFS) has met several times and these meetings are facilitating good cooperation between companies such as ourselves and Health Canada, the CFIA and food safety partners.

There’s still more to do however – for government and companies. We’ll be looking for evidence of progress on steps the government has committed to complete, such as finalizing new guidelines around recalls and the revised policy on Listeria monocytogenes.  We’re especially interested in seeing the approval of a range of new technologies that are commonly in use elsewhere in the world such as technologies that facilitate rapid-testing of foodborne pathogens.  It’s important for Canadian companies to have approval to use the range of food safety tools that are being used elsewhere, notably in the US, so that our systems are robust and complementary to regulatory requirements.  We are also anxious for government to provide ongoing reporting of industry compliance to the regulatory requirements so that the industry can hold ourselves accountable for continuous improvement against meeting and exceeding the standards.

Canadians want to know that companies and government officials are cooperating and moving ahead with improvements and better regulation and we are. There’s been a lot of progress since 2008, demonstrating that the lessons learned during that year are being implemented and backed up by good collaboration between the food industry and public health agencies.

I’ve just returned from Lubbock, Texas, and to cooler temperatures believe it or not here in Toronto. What took me to the Lone Star state was the annual meeting of the American Meat Science Association. For the next year I will be serving as President of the association and I took over that responsibility at the meeting Tuesday night. This annual meeting, dubbed The Reciprocal Meat Conference (RMC), has been occurring annually since 1948.  The RMC got its name from the original format for the meeting which encouraged active dialogue and audience participation concerning scientific topics related to meat, hence the term “reciprocation”.  The meeting retains this same format today giving attendees the chance to learn and interact with experts across a wide variety of topics.  Typically held on a university campus providing access to laboratories and teaching facilities, this year was no different.  Over 600 attendees got to experience the amazing new meat science facilities at Texas Tech University

To those of you who don’t think about meat science too much, it may surprise you to learn how much the fresh and processed meat industry relies on research and science.  Just because we work with products you may have known and enjoyed for years doesn’t mean we aren’t constantly learning and reviewing new research to better understand food production and processing, safety and nutrition. Members of the association bring different perspectives in this respect – some are scientists from universities and others are with companies across North America and elsewhere. Government officials also play an active role as individual members of the association. The association is one way in which these folks come together to share the latest on animal husbandry techniques, muscle biology, meat chemistry and microbiology, and finished product safety and nutrition.

Some of the presentations at this week’s conference included topics on sodium-reduction initiatives and continuing research into nitrites and nitrates, and validation of in-plant microbial interventions.  These issues are important to consumers and there’s a lot that is being investigated so we can have a better understanding of them.  What makes the association’s work so important is that it’s not just supporting rigorous peer-reviewed science – it’s ensuring that the industry is made aware of the research findings that can have an impact on the work that food manufacturers do to produce everyday products. Members of the association benefit when we know the decisions we have to take in our jobs are based on all available evidence – from outside and inside our companies.

Two areas of focus over the coming year (yes, there are term limits to this Presidency) are strengthening the association’s base of support and carrying out its newly launched strategic plan to be the leading forum for knowledge about meat and meat science.  A key principle of our strategic plan is the importance of sharing information and knowledge – a principle that is especially important to those of us at Maple Leaf given our focus on sharing food safety information.

If you have comments or questions about how we in the industry are using research in areas of interest to you, let me know. Over the next year, I’ll be collaborating with researchers and professionals on a number of topics. For myself and our industry, I hope it’s another year where we continue to learn and improve in what we do every day.

This is an important day for us at Maple Leaf Foods.  We are making a public pledge to Canadians about what we promise to do about food safety, both in our products and across the industry.  This flows from the very deep commitment we made following the listeriosis outbreak of August 2008 that resulted in the death of 23 Canadians.

In the wake of this tragedy, I made some solemn undertakings on behalf of Maple Leaf Foods to the people of this country about our determination to do everything in our power to prevent an outbreak like this from ever happening again.  I meant that then, and I mean it now as much as ever.

We have spent the last 18 months seeking the advice of the best experts in the world (and in many cases hiring them), examined every one of our previous practices, made significant improvements in all areas of food safety – testing, training and sanitization – and worked with industry and government to raise the bar. We’ve also reached out to Canadians in many ways to hear from you what your concerns are and what you expect.

Our Maple Leaf Food Safety Pledge is the embodiment of these efforts.  It is our public commitment to you about what you can expect from us and what we expect of ourselves.  It is the expression of our commitment to be second to none in the area of food safety.  It is an expression of our determination to be improving all the time. We hold ourselves, and you should hold us, accountable against these standards.

Please take the time to read the Food Safety Pledge.  We welcome your feedback and comments. I also encourage you to return to this blog and participate in what I hope will become a lively and informative source of discussion about food safety and health issues.

On behalf of the 23,500 employees of Maple Leaf Foods, we are grateful for the trust and confidence Canadians have placed in us.  We remain committed to earning your trust each and every day.