Today I will be appearing at the Sub-Committee on Food Safety of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food.

I am looking forward to sharing my insights into last year’s tragedy and what we have learned since the listeria outbreak. In preparation for my testimony we have prepared a detailed backgrounder on the events of last August.  

I will also be advocating in support of a stronger role for regulators in raising the standards on food safety for all food processors. We believe it is critical that there be one set of tough Federal standards premised on science-based policy that provides for consistent application and enforcement through inspection both nationally and at our borders. Further information on our position can be found here.

The Food Safety hearings will be broadcast on CPAC (http://www.cpac.ca) and I invite you to tune in and continue the conversation on the blog.

My first 100 days have been exciting and busy to say the least.  It is clear to me from the dozens of highly professional and dedicated people I’ve met who work hard every day to ensure the products we produce are safe, that Maple Leaf is very committed to its journey to food safety leadership.  I have encountered a strong culture of accountability, transparency and openness, an intense desire to get things done and to getting them done with rigour and diligence.    We share much in common, including a passion for food and food safety that ensures my new role will be very rewarding!

 Since arriving in January, I have toured 19 plants in three Canadian provinces meeting with plant managers and employees from QA, production, HR and sanitation/maintenance to gain insights into our operations.  With nearly 100 meat and bakery operations and a diverse range of products across the company, I have many other facilities to visit in the months ahead to expand my knowledge of the business.  I have met with two key customers so far and will take every opportunity I can to meet with others to obtain their perspectives on food safety. 

I have had multiple meetings with all three critical Federal government agencies: Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, and look forward to ongoing dialog with food safety officials within the government.

I have assembled a core team of professionals that are assessing every aspect of Maple Leaf Foods Food Safety practices and technologies.  We are crafting strategies that will lead to continuous improvement of our systems for producing safe food. 

We have much to do but we are all committed to working aggressively to building upon our existing programs to propel us along our journey to food safety leadership.  More to come in future posts.

Last night the Standing Committee on Agriculture & Agri-Food Parliamentary Sub-committee on Food Safety, which has been assembled to study the food safety system in Canada and the August 2008 recall, set its initial work schedule.  This is good news. Improving our system of food safety protection is important work for Canadian legislators.

I’m going to be asking to appear early in the hearing process with Randy Huffman, our Chief Food Safety Officer.  All of us at Maple Leaf learned a lot through the tragedy of last year’s Listeria outbreak.  We owe it to the families of those who died and the thousands who were affected to share those lessons in the interests of a higher level of food safety in Canada.

When we appear before the committee, we are going to lay out, chapter and verse, what happened last August.  We also have a number of suggestions we intend to raise about how the industry overall needs to raise its game going forward as well as about the important role government policy and regulation should play.

Along with the Weatherill Investigation, this Parliamentary process offers an opportunity for Canada to jump to the forefront of food safety and I’m extremely supportive of that.