Canada to Keep Closer Eye on Food Recalls and Recall Management

By Mike Rozembajgier

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is stepping up its oversight and will be keeping a closer eye on food safety, the recall process, and recall management efforts by food manufacturers and producers.  Following a 2005 internal audit that found Canada had “no clear policy” for public recall notification, the CFIA promised to make the recall process more transparent by making information about every recall available to the public. Previously, the CFIA only alerted the public to the most serious cases.

CFIA’s increased oversight and transparency policies appear to be working. CBC News recently did an analysis of CFIA recall data and found that there have been 18 more serious recalls this year than last.  According to CFIA officials, this trend is likely to continue “at the same rate as we have experienced this year.”

In an interview with CBC News, Sylvain Charlebois, a food industry expert and professor of management and economics at the University of Guleph, noted that “the agency is educating itself on how to better monitor risks and as a result, we’re seeing more recalls.”

The agency’s increased communication effort is a positive step, especially considering that food recalls are voluntary in Canada. As the CFIA increases its monitoring, food manufacturers and distributors  have an even greater incentive to find ways to further mitigate the risks of a product recall, ensure the safety of their product supply chains, and more effectively manage recalls.

Updates to the CFIA system will allow the public to better track the risks associated with less serious food recalls. And we can expect more action from the agency to ensure public safety. While a recent CFIA survey found that 68 percent of Canadians have confidence in their food safety  monitoring system, the same survey also found that additional “communication activities would increase awareness and help provide increased levels of confidence in the system.”

Canada’s food industry oversight and risk management efforts shed light on the core values that comprehensive communication programs bring to public safety and recall management. As government agencies strive to keep a better record of product recalls taking place each year, industry is more likely improve safety and compliance measures to better protect the public from food safety risks.

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