Canada's pesticide screening of food criticized

[CHIMO]

According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, fresh fruits and vegetables on Canadian store shelves are remarkably free of pesticides, with bug- and weed-killer residues on only 10 per cent of the thousands of samples it checks every year.

But a new report from an environmental think tank contends the federal food safety watchdog is seriously underestimating these residues because U.S. regulators, checking the same types of fresh foods, find pesticides on 76 per cent of them. British food safety regulators find them on 40 per cent.

"It is difficult to believe that fruits and vegetables in Canada are so much cleaner than produce in the U.S. or the U.K, especially when a substantial proportion of Canadian produce is imported from the U.S.," said the report by the Vancouver-based David Suzuki Foundation.

The report, being released today, called on the federal government to investigate these "glaring inconsistencies" to find out why the Canadian tests are so out of line.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061005.wxpesticide05/BNStory/National/home

[DaleK2]

1. Reply

One of the things that bothers those of us that farm the most is the way the CFIA and others apply rules so stringently to Canadian farmers, then almost completely ignore the imports. Less than 5% of imported foods are ever inspected in ANY way. Of course, we have to be free traders, and making sure imported food meets any of our standards might be misperceived as protectionist, and WE CAN'T HAVE THAT so just let the bureaucracy go after Canadian farmers instead. In my case we were one of the first farms to be inspected for the new on-farm feed mixing regulations this year. Took two CFIA employees most of the day to come out and tell me what I had to do. So now I have to keep a daily log of every different batch of feed I mix, even if it's only a 5 gallon pail worth for the calves, and I have to have a list of written protocols for what I'll do if I spill any feed on the ground, and they had to take samples of everything I feed, etc etc etc. So I get about 20 minutes of extra work to do every day. But meanwhile M&M meats is still selling beef from former Brazilian rainforests where Hoof and mouth disease is running wild.

[CHIMO]

2. Yep

Anything more than a hundred miles away is an expert.

E. coli outbreaks in Ontario leave 14 ill
Last Updated: Friday, October 6, 2006 | 6:57 PM ET
CBC News

Health authorities are investigating two E. coli outbreaks in Ontario involving 14 people, but have not determined if the occurrences in Hamilton and Sudbury are linked, officials told CBC.ca on Friday.

Another 20 potential cases are being investigated in the two cities, said John Letherby, a spokesman for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.

He said a link between the two cities is "probable" but still under investigation.

Letherby also said authorities had not yet determined if the E. coli sub-strain is the same in both cities.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2006/10/06/ecoli-investigation.html