The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is working to improve food traceability on a national level by creating partnerships with provincial governments. On Tuesday, the CFIA and the Prince Edward Island Department of Agriculture and Forestry signed an information sharing agreement that will make it easier to track livestock.
“The ability to zero in on an animal that may be sick or a risk to food safety is important to protecting consumers and animals,” Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, said in a statement. “Locating animals faster and more efficiently can help lessen the impact of these types of events at the farm-level.”
“This system will provide valuable information to help emergency responders take precautionary measures to protect human and animal health,” said Prince Edward Island’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister George Webster in a statement. Alberta and Manitoba have signed similar agreements.
The goal of the initiative, which is part of the National Agriculture and Food Traceability System, is to develop a system that can quickly and accurately track livestock from farm to slaughter. A system that provides this type of information can protect public health in the event of a food poisoning outbreak or an outbreak of animal disease. It can also help to avert a major recall like the 2012 XL Foods recall where 4,000 tons of beef were recalled for possible E.coli contamination.
