Canada Increases Food Safety Watch

Canada is hoping to strengthen its food safety system by investing $75m in a new food safety system designed to prevent, detect and respond to future food-borne illnesses.

The government is said to be hiring 166 new food safety staff, 70 of which will focus on ready-to-eat-meat facilities, as well as providing health teams available around the clock that will assess food safety, it said.

It is also looking to increase food safety investigations, improve coordination among federal and provincial departments and agencies, and improve communications to vulnerable populations before and during a food-borne illness outbreak.

A national surveillance system will also be set up for the tracking of food and third-party audits will be initiated to ensure Canada’s food inspection system has the right resources dedicated to demands, the government said.

The Canadian Government previously invested $113m in food safety in 2008, and this $75m increases what it can do under new initiatives, the government said.