Recently I met with the team at Deloitte Canada to offer some perspectives for a research report called Safe to move.  The report examines the issue of food safety and provides a comprehensive approach to help companies achieve their business objectives and manage food safety risks.

 Food safety can be a complex issue  and there are no ”silver bullets”  to solving all the challenges that food manufacturers face but this report provides solid recommendations of what all the players need to do to assess, build and monitor an effective food safety program.  

Click here to listen to the Deloitte Canada podcast.

Canadian food processors, retailers, distributors, institutions,  trade associations,  government agencies and listeria experts came together last Friday,  in the spirit that Food Safety should not be treated as a competitive issue, to discuss global best practices in food safety at our ThinkFOOD! Centre in Mississauga.  What united us was our shared concern in understanding the latest  thinking on food safety broadly, but specifically in recent practices and research findings  on Listeria  prevalence, persistence  and  growth control technologies, so we  as an RTE (ready-to-eat) food industry can continue to do a better job of protecting  public health.  

The focus of this food safety symposia was on Listeria – as the company behind the listeriosis outbreak that resulted in 22 deaths listeria control is  one of our highest food safety priorit ies .  The Listeria presentations focused on two general themes:

1) Listeria monocytogenes is pervasive in the food environment

2) The critical importance of preventing growth of Listeria to high numbers in foods. 

Dr. Martin Wiedmann from Cornell University and Dr. Kathy Glass from the University of Wisconsin, who both presented, are leading scientists in this area.  

Dr. Weidmann  presented compelling data to show Listeria monocytogenes has widespread distribution, from very pristine environments to urban environments as well as food processing plants, retail stores, and home refrigerators. His evaluation of the genetic analysis of strains that are known to be persistent in seafood plants was very relevant to our understanding of control in RTE food plants.   Listeria is different from other pathogens as the concentration level  at the time of consumption determines whether people become ill. We also know that vulnerable populations such as the elderly, pregnant women and people who have compromised immune systems are more susceptible to foodborne illnesses.  Listeria it is also different from other pathogens in that it  can grow at low temperatures, however higher storage temperatures speed its growth. The key  for preventing illness is to keep foods that could contain Listeria  below 4ºC.  We learned from Dr. Glass, based on modeling done  in the US , that reducing refrigeration temperatures in the supply chain from current levels to consistently below 5ºC could reduce the number of cases of listeriosis in the United States from 2,500 to just 28!

The researchers also spoke to ingredients that  ingredients that can be used that further control the growth of Listeria.  Ingredients such as lactates and diacetates, which are very common and safe food ingredients that  can function to raise the pH level and inhibit the bacteria’s growth  are widely used in the U.S. Now approved for use in Canada, we are actively pursuing adding these ingredients to our products in addition to exploring the use of emerging technologies that can also be successful in mitigating risk against foodborne pathogens.

Our plan is to hold these Food Safety conferences annually bringing together our peers, government agencies, industry and others as the opportunity for learning and sharing global best practices in food safety is endless.   

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.