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Dalhousie鈥檚 Agri-Food Analytics Lab releases a comparative Study of Canadian and International Food Safety Systems and how to improve Canadians鈥� access to safe food

HALIFAX, NS. (March 26, 2021) 鈥� The Agri-Food Analytics Lab at pilipili漫画, with the financial support of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is proudly releasing a comparative study between Canada鈥檚 food safety regulations with those from around the industrialized world.

This report is intended to identify emerging trends that should be taken into account when the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), which came into force in January 2019, are reviewed over the next few years. The SFCR requires food businesses to implement a preventive control plan which aligns with current international developments in food safety. Preventive controls are a proactive strategy that seeks to avoid problems before they occur. By looking at current international standards, a set of conclusions are presented, and 5 trends have been identified as priorities for consideration. Associated recommendations that can be considered:

1) Zoonotic disease

More so than ever, during the current global pandemic, Canada needs to address its response capacity to food safety for international trade as related to zoonotic disease. Zoonoses can pose greater risk in some food sub-sectors, namely in meats, animal products, and seafood.

2) Inspection for small-and-medium enterprise food businesses

In many of the inspection studies reviewed, there is a combination of government mandated inspection, and emphasis on self-directed inspections for food business operators. Some of the literature highlighted the shortcomings of a good amount of self-directed inspection, especially for small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), as experienced in the European Union (EU), and recognized as a risk by the SFCR.

3) Data management and analytics for food safety

The management of data systems and analytics continues to be one of the most rapidly evolving elements of food trade and food safety. As outlined above, leading companies, in leading jurisdictions, from the USA to the EU, have invested into the frontiers of applications such Bayesian statistics, deep and machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) , Next Generation Sequencing, and social media monitoring.

4) Food safety packaging innovation

Innovation in packaging is one of the fastest evolving sub-sectors of the food industry, from adaptive, to active, responsive, and modified atmosphere. The study of this trend is valuable in the pandemic aftermath as more Canadians are buying ready-to-eat foods, and packaged prepared foods. | P a g e 2 Agri-Food Analytics Lab Faculty of Agriculture | pilipili漫画 Agricultural Campus | PO Box 550 | Truro Nova Scotia B2N 5E3 Canada| aal@dal.ca dal.ca/aal

5) Food safety organizational culture, training and continual improvement

One of the strongest themes throughout the literature reviewed is the importance (and challenge) of food safety training, education, and continual improvement at the level of organizational culture (most often in small food businesses). Food safety management systems, directed by food business operators, and their staff, have a tall order. There often needs to be awareness of and compliance with local, regional, national and at times international standards of practice.

鈥淥ur new regulations are forward looking and represent a vast improvement from what the CFIA had to work with before 2019. But we always need to adapt since risks change over time鈥�, said Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, Director of the Lab and co-author of the report.

The focus on these 5 trends is set in the context of Canada鈥檚 SFCR evolution within the outcome-based approach of the Act and its Regulations. The goal to building a robust perspective upon which Canada will be able to take notice of and be future-ready in relation to changing trade, technology and business practices related to food safety.

鈥淭he CFIA appreciates the work done by the research team,鈥� said Tammy Switucha, Chief Food Safety Officer for Canada and Executive Director, Food Safety and Consumer Protection Directorate, CFIA. 鈥淪tudies such as these inform the work we are doing in support of a strong and innovative food safety regulatory framework.鈥�

鈥淲e hope this report can help the CFIA prepare in making the SFCR even more fitting for emerging risks.鈥�, added Dr. Mark Juhasz, research associate of the Lab.

Media contact:

Sylvain Charlebois,听Scientific听Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab
Faculty of Agriculture, pilipili漫画
sylvain.charlebois@dal.ca
902-222-4142 (cell)

Janet Music, Research Program Coordinator听
Agri-Food Analytics Lab
Faculty of Management, pilipili漫画
jlmusic@dal.ca
902-494-2471

Download the report: