Canadian Retailer - Spring 2015 - 18

Food saFety

picking up the slack

It's a timely initiative if consumer confidence in Canada's
food safety is to be maintained. The Federal Government, after
all, has made cuts in the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA). According to the CFIA's 2014-15 Report on Plans and
Priorities spending on food-safety programs is to drop by
about $35 million, from $321 million in 2014-15 to $286 million
in 2016-17. For that same program the number of full-time employees is to drop by 192, from 2,940 to 2,748 in the same time
period. Further reductions were announced for the meat and
poultry 'sub-program' which will see spending lowered from
$169 million in 2014-15 to $145 million in 2016-17. The number
of full-time employees will drop by 152, from 1599 to 1447.
Clearly, retailers, as well as interested academics and industry advocacy groups like RCC must carry a greater load of the
responsibility to ensure consumers remain convinced that
safeguards in our food industry remain world-leading. RCCs
Safe Food Program is intended to do just that.

"Canada has always had a reputation for high
standards when it comes to food safety. In
fact, Canada and Ireland are rated the top
two countries in the world in this regard. RCC
intends to keep Canada at the top because you
can never rest when it comes to food safety."
- DAVID WILKES, Retail Council of Canada

The Safe Food Program is just the latest in a series of innovative food industry-directed programs initiated by RCC. The
FoodWise Food Safety Certification Program, for example,
provides grocery retail staff with a better understanding of the
varied factors that influence food safety. The purpose of the
program is to provide staff with the science behind the procedures that keep food safe. The program provides employee
training programs that include temperature control, food
handling practices, and cleaning and sanitizing procedures.
Targeting the warehouse end is the Distribution Centre Hazard
Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) Food Safety Program.
It was developed to assist the food distribution industry in the
implementation of cutting edge HACCP food safety programs
within their distribution centres. The Program can be used to develop a food safety program for a distribution centre from scratch,
supplement an existing distribution centre food safety program,
or be used as a reference guide when new activities or product
lines are being added to a distribution centre operation.
These initiatives, combined with the Safe Food Program,
demonstrate RCCs commitment to maintaining consumer
confidence in the food they ingest.

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canadian retailer | SprinG 2015

research and analysis

The Safe Food Program has established a
governance committee that will start by doing a scan on emerging food safety trends on
a global basis. They'll then work to see how
these trends can be applied to the Canadian
food industry, where best practices can be
adopted and opportunities communicated to
retailers. "It's a global industry so we want to
see what advances are being made around the
world to ensure we remain ahead of the curve
when it comes to food safety," says Wilkes,
noting that another focus of initial work will
be on providing input to current government
regulatory proposals involving food safety.
"Retailers have a strong motivation to
ensure a good safety process is in place because they represent the last stop before the
customer makes their purchase. It's a big responsibility, one vital to brand confidence
and ultimately profitability," explains Dr. Art
Hill, Professor and Chair of the University of
Guelph's Food Science Department.
Dr. Lawrence Goodridge, Associate Professor & Ian and Jayne Munro Chair in FoodSafety at McGill accepts that food safety is
already taken quite seriously in Canada. But
he points to improvements that can be made.
"There are two areas where the Canadian
food industry can improve with respect to food
safety," he says. "One is in the area of ongoing
analysis of food safety systems that are in place
to ensure that they are working properly. Also,
there is a need for the food industry to implement training programs so that food producers
remain up-to-date with new regulations that
are being put in place through the Safe Food
for Canadians Act, as well as international food
safety regulations like the Food Safety and
Modernization Act from the United States."
collaborative improvements

Dr. Hill believes universities have a big role
to play in ensuring the Canadian food industry not only retains its status as one of the
safest in the world, but indeed improves on an
already enviable record.
"We bring credibility to the table. We enjoy
credibility with the government and industry
because we don't have a stake in the question-we have the benefit of third part objectivity-and in credibility surveys among the
public universities rate high. We can bring
to RCC a sort of third party distance that can

Canadian Retailer - Spring 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Canadian Retailer - Spring 2015