Would having more inspectors really keep Listeria out of RTE meats?
Maybe I'm cynical about the whole thing, but I don't see overworked meat inspectors being the most important factor leading to the Maple Leaf/Listeria outbreak. I don't know what more inspectors would have done about Listeria living deep inside a slicer.
Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union representing food inspectors through the Public Service Alliance of Canada thinks the lack of inspectors and resources is exactly what the problem was -- and he's trumpeting that opinion again today.
In an article about the lack of progress of a promised government inquiry of the outbreak Kingston says changes proposed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency include more stringent oversight, more reporting and more rigorous testing.
"They sort of put all the right pieces in place except for one thing: they haven't been given any resources to do it. With all the government's talk about how well resourced the agency was, and how they were going to make sure that whatever needed to be done was done, they haven't come up with a single penny yet."
The union is calling for 1,000 more inspectors and veterinarians across the entire food-safety system. At least 200 more are needed for processed-meat inspection alone, Kingston says.
"If you talk to the average inspector out there, they figure they've probably got about twice as many plants as they feel comfortable with."
So what will these extra inspectors do, and how are they going to help companies like Maple Leaf implement the culture of food safety we hear so much about? Regulators need to evolve and do a better job helping folks from farm-to-fork to develop a food safety culture, and verify that their steps reduce risk are being implemented.
The best part of the article was related to the political dancing-with-stars mess around this magical inquiry:
Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz's office deferred questions about the delay to the Prime Minister's Office.
"An announcement will be made in due course," said PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas.
Classic.
http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/admin/trackback/103081
Meats not my strength. Some people would say food in general isn't either but, isn't the best answer to listeria in a cooked product to pasteurize in the final package thereby reducing the risk of even sporadic contamination with enviromental listeria just about zero?
ken
Prevention of any food contamination can be tracked back to investment. Investment of time and resources. It doesn't matter who makes the investment be it the Government, the business, the employees, the clients, independent auditors or laboratories. With the right amount of investment then food contamination can be prevented. Who would be looking to see that there was no contamination of the meat slicer? In factories that I know it would firstly be the operator. The operator would be trained to be aware of the risk - so the business would have invested in training. There would be a QA person that would be checking that the cleaning programs were operating and effective. If the business is HACCP accredited then the auditor would be checking documentation as well as having a look through the facility at areas that they know are important (if not critical) to ensure that the plan is effective. The auditor invests in their developing their own competency as their credibility is on the line. The laboratories ensure that their test methods are appropriate to the test matrix, sufficiently sensitive and reputable. The clients of the business invest by sending their own QA people to check that the audit reports are a fair representation of the business operation. The Government invests by sending in their inspectors to protect consumers. Listeria contamination of meat slicing equipment is not new news. Listeria can be controlled by effective cleaning and hygiene programs. A break down in food safety systems is caused by a lack of investment by one or more of these stakeholders. All of these people are part of the QA system. They are only as strong as their weakest link. If the weakest link was the inspectors then yes, get more. But perhaps it was the investment in food safety knowledge and application at the meat slicer, every day, day in and day out and awarenesss of the consequences of not being diligent in applying your food safety responsibilities.