In 2008, the Harper Conservatives were able to pass changes to our food safety system that reduced the funding to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, ultimately resulting in fewer inspectors employed, and fewer inspections of food manufacturing premises. In place of regulators, food manufacturing companies would be allowed to fill the void with self-inspection. What followed should be obvious, unsafe practices went unnoticed, and eventually there was an outbreak which made national headlines, when a Listeriosis outbreak was traced to a Maple Leaf Foods plant which ultimately killed 23 people.
These cuts are no different than in other industries. With less oversight, the risk of harm and unsafe practices is elevated. Pharmaceuticals get lax with quality control, and mislabel medications. Food manufacturers get lax with quality control, and contamination of food occurs.
Eventually the outcry lead to a backtrack from Harper's cabinet, and they increased funding again. However, that funding has a sunrise and sunset. By 2013-14, the funding will expire and again we will be left with fewer inspectors to ensure rigorous food safety programs are doing what they are intended to do; minimize the risk of food borne illness. Additionally, with the austerity measures Harper's government is forcing, we can expect further cuts to CFIA generally, which in the end will mean elevated risk.
Now, Obama's administration is pursuing a similar path. The plan being put forth right now is to allow poultry producers to assume some of the mandated food inspection duties currently handled by the US Department of Agriculture. The pilot program the changes are based on, called HIMP (HACCP based Inspection Models Project), is estimated by the USDA to save them $100 million annually in the USDA budget, while offering $520 million in savings over the next 3 years to poultry producers once implemented amongst all producers. The aim of the HIMP program was to provide more efficiency, and to reduce defects. What has happened however, is that the error rate amongst the participating companies is staggeringly high. Access to information requests have revealed that amongst chicken slaughter facilities, the error rate for catching defects is 64%, and in turkey slaughter facilities the error rate is even higher, at 87%.
These defect categories are not simply discolored meat, they include things like fecal contamination, visceral contamination, and infectious material. Out of 229 facilities, 208 had non-compliance records for fecal contamination, an error rate of 90%.
The USDA actually estimates that implementation of this pilot program will lead to a reduction of over 5000 poultry related food illnesses per year. How they can come up with a number like that, is astonishing really.
The US is slated to follow Canada down the road to increased food borne illnesses.
One last point, call it food for thought, err bad pun. A Georgetown University analysis pegged the number of US food borne illnesses at 128 000 per year, resulting in 3000 deaths, and a total cost to consumers of $152 Billion a year.
Where is the logic here? Maybe campaign donors? Cynical much, nahhhhhhhh.
Food and Water Watch analysis of the FOIA documents:
Privatized Poultry Inspection: USDA
Georgetown University Produce Safety Project:
http://www.producesafetyproject.org...ated-Foodborne-Illness-Costs-Report.pdf-1.pdf
These cuts are no different than in other industries. With less oversight, the risk of harm and unsafe practices is elevated. Pharmaceuticals get lax with quality control, and mislabel medications. Food manufacturers get lax with quality control, and contamination of food occurs.
Eventually the outcry lead to a backtrack from Harper's cabinet, and they increased funding again. However, that funding has a sunrise and sunset. By 2013-14, the funding will expire and again we will be left with fewer inspectors to ensure rigorous food safety programs are doing what they are intended to do; minimize the risk of food borne illness. Additionally, with the austerity measures Harper's government is forcing, we can expect further cuts to CFIA generally, which in the end will mean elevated risk.
Now, Obama's administration is pursuing a similar path. The plan being put forth right now is to allow poultry producers to assume some of the mandated food inspection duties currently handled by the US Department of Agriculture. The pilot program the changes are based on, called HIMP (HACCP based Inspection Models Project), is estimated by the USDA to save them $100 million annually in the USDA budget, while offering $520 million in savings over the next 3 years to poultry producers once implemented amongst all producers. The aim of the HIMP program was to provide more efficiency, and to reduce defects. What has happened however, is that the error rate amongst the participating companies is staggeringly high. Access to information requests have revealed that amongst chicken slaughter facilities, the error rate for catching defects is 64%, and in turkey slaughter facilities the error rate is even higher, at 87%.
These defect categories are not simply discolored meat, they include things like fecal contamination, visceral contamination, and infectious material. Out of 229 facilities, 208 had non-compliance records for fecal contamination, an error rate of 90%.
The USDA actually estimates that implementation of this pilot program will lead to a reduction of over 5000 poultry related food illnesses per year. How they can come up with a number like that, is astonishing really.
The US is slated to follow Canada down the road to increased food borne illnesses.
One last point, call it food for thought, err bad pun. A Georgetown University analysis pegged the number of US food borne illnesses at 128 000 per year, resulting in 3000 deaths, and a total cost to consumers of $152 Billion a year.
Where is the logic here? Maybe campaign donors? Cynical much, nahhhhhhhh.
Food and Water Watch analysis of the FOIA documents:
Privatized Poultry Inspection: USDA
Georgetown University Produce Safety Project:
http://www.producesafetyproject.org...ated-Foodborne-Illness-Costs-Report.pdf-1.pdf
