Earlier this week, Canada rolled out sweeping new food regulations, adopted under a law dubbed the Safe Food for Canadians Act.
The SFCA, which became law in 2012, is intended to prevent foodborne illness and allow for more efficient recalls of unsafe food.
The law establishes new requirements for licensing, preventative controls, and traceability for food imports and foods shipped or sold across territorial and provincial boundaries.
Some commentators have likened SFCA to America's Food Safety Modernization Act, noting, for example, that FSMA and SFCA share "Similar themes" and "Common aspects." These similarities are enough that SFCA has been labeled Canada's "Own FSMA." Still, given that SFCA includes oversight of meat inspection-which is regulated in the United States by the USDA, rather than the FDA-the SFCA's food-safety oversight far exceeds that of FSMA. Notably, rates of foodborne illness in Canada-where one in eight people fall ill from foodborne illness each year- are lower than those in the United States, where one in six are impacted.
That's one reason large Canadian food producers, which helped draft SFCA, are generally pleased with the regulations.
Some small farmers and food producers worry SFCA is just another tangle of red tape.
Some New Brunswick food producers are expressing similar concerns.
http://reason.com/archives/2019/01/19/new-canadian-food-safety-law-could-spell
The SFCA, which became law in 2012, is intended to prevent foodborne illness and allow for more efficient recalls of unsafe food.
The law establishes new requirements for licensing, preventative controls, and traceability for food imports and foods shipped or sold across territorial and provincial boundaries.
Some commentators have likened SFCA to America's Food Safety Modernization Act, noting, for example, that FSMA and SFCA share "Similar themes" and "Common aspects." These similarities are enough that SFCA has been labeled Canada's "Own FSMA." Still, given that SFCA includes oversight of meat inspection-which is regulated in the United States by the USDA, rather than the FDA-the SFCA's food-safety oversight far exceeds that of FSMA. Notably, rates of foodborne illness in Canada-where one in eight people fall ill from foodborne illness each year- are lower than those in the United States, where one in six are impacted.
That's one reason large Canadian food producers, which helped draft SFCA, are generally pleased with the regulations.
Some small farmers and food producers worry SFCA is just another tangle of red tape.
Some New Brunswick food producers are expressing similar concerns.
http://reason.com/archives/2019/01/19/new-canadian-food-safety-law-could-spell
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