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.

A new study released by the Rutgers’ Food Policy Institute  suggests that many Americans do not check their homes for recalled food products. 

The study, based on a survey of 1,101 Americans interviewed by phone in August and September last year, revealed that only 60 percent of respondents have ever checked their home for recalled food products, even though most people said they tell others about recalls when they learn about them. And 40 percent of consumers think that they are less likely to buy contaminated food than other people.

This is surprising given how widespread recall news typically is.

In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) sends out alerts and recall notices. Individuals can subscribe to receive email alerts directly from the CFIA’s website at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/.  In the U.S. recall announcements are posted by the USDA-FSIS for meat  products and the FDA for non-meat  products. 

Have you found any recalled food items in your home?

Sometimes product recalls in North America relate to contaminated ingredients, such as tomatoes, spinach and peanut butter, that have been used in the manufacture of food products.  While most recalls are precautionary and not necessarily linked to human illness, it is important that  appropriate action be taken to mitigate any possible risk of exposure.  To protect public health, it is our responsibility to investigate when we are made aware of these events to determine whether we source ingredients from the same supplier and take swift action if we do.  To date this year there have been over 75 product recalls and alerts in Canada.

Typically, we are notified of a product recall from several  publicly available sources.   In Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) sends out alerts and recall notices. Individuals can subscribe to receive email alerts directly from the CFIA’s website at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/.  In the U.S.,  recall announcements are posted by  the  USDA-FSIS for meat  products and the FDA for non-meat  products. 

In the case of the recent recall related to pistachio nuts contaminated with Salmonella, we received the notice from Foodtrack  an international notification system we subscribe to.

Upon obtaining an alert, our  Food Safety team follows established food safety protocols to verify whether any products we produce may be affected  by the ingredients in question.  The first step is to track any food products that may contain the ingredient and then identify the supplier  to confirm whether the source is related to the recall notice.  In  last week’s pistachio nut recall, we were able to quickly establish that Maple Leaf did not source ingredients from the same source and as a result, our products are not affected.

As  new and better testing methods are developed, and as companies and government regulators look more diligently for potential contaminants in the food supply, chances are there will be more food recalls.  Health Canada and the CFIA will continue to introduce new regulatory  programs, such as the recent updates to the Listeria policy in ready to eat meat products, which result in increased testing and  government oversight, which in turn could lead to more recalls .  With regard to greater government testing and oversight,  more recalls is an indication that an important element of Canada’s food safety system is working.   The recall process is an important element of the food safety system that serves to protect public health and  the industry and government must learn from them to build better food safety performance!