A quarantined southwestern Ontario turkey farm has been confirmed with the same strain of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian flu seen on farms in British Columbia and several U.S. states. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday that samples tested at its National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg have confirmed the virus’ subtype and […] Read more
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Ont. turkey farm’s avian flu confirmed as H5N2
Canada blocking poultry from Montana, South Dakota
Canada is blocking cross-border shopping for raw poultry, eggs and live birds from another border state, after H5N2 avian flu was confirmed in central Montana on Friday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Friday expanded restrictions that block travellers to Canada from H5N2-positive states from bringing in live birds, hatching eggs, eggs, yolks, egg […] Read more
CFIA defends meat inspection staffing, service levels
Shifts in federal meat inspection staffing levels and work priorities are the result of a “risk-based, outcome-based” approach to food safety, not cuts, Canadian Food Inspection Agency brass say. CFIA was responding this week to allegations by its inspectors’ union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s (PSAC) Agriculture Union, that the agency is “quietly unravelling” […] Read more
Canada reducing number of meat inspections, union says
Winnipeg | Reuters –– The Canadian government, under pressure to eliminate its budget deficit, has reduced the frequency of inspections at certain Alberta meat-packing plants and plans to cut spending on food safety, the food inspectors’ union said on Tuesday. The cutbacks follow two major meat recalls over foodborne illness in recent years. Ottawa had […] Read more
Health Canada clears Canadian firm’s ‘non-browning’ apples
A Canadian company’s genetically modified “non-browning” apples have picked up federal approval for commercial sale after review from Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The Arctic apple, developed by Okanagan Specialty Fruits and submitted for federal approval in 2011, “is safe for consumption, still has all its nutritional value and therefore does not […] Read more
All but one avian flu quarantine lifted in B.C.
A table egg layer operation near Langley is now the only farm still under quarantine for avian flu in British Columbia. All 13 properties in B.C.’s Fraser Valley that had been quarantined for highly-pathogenic H5N2 or H5N1 avian flu since the beginning of December have since been culled of birds, cleaned and disinfected. A subsequent […] Read more
China to block Canadian beef as BSE probe continues
China has set up “temporary trade restrictions” on Canadian beef and beef products in the wake of Canada’s first case of BSE in a domestic cow since 2011, federal officials report. Born in 2009 and confirmed with BSE Feb. 11, the latest case — Canada’s 19th since its first such finding in 2003 — has […] Read more
BSE case born after tightened feed ban imposed
The beef cow that became Canada’s 19th case of BSE is now confirmed as Canada’s first-ever case to be born after tighter limits were imposed on use of cattle parts in livestock feed. Without specifying a home municipality, spokesmen for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said on a conference call Wednesday that Case 19 […] Read more
Officials chasing down unknowns in new BSE case
The cow confirmed Thursday as Canada’s 19th domestic case of BSE, and just its third case in the past five years, is still somewhat of a stranger to federal officials. Representatives with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), on a conference call Friday, said they haven’t yet confirmed the cow’s age, its past travels or […] Read more
New BSE case halts progress on ‘negligible risk’
Anyone hoping Canada had shut the book on BSE in its cattle herd and could someday soon regain “negligible risk” status has been dealt a new setback. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed late Thursday that a beef cow in Alberta is Canada’s 19th home-grown case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, the country’s first such case […] Read more
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