Reading Time: 2 minutes The food-service industry is under pressure from shareholders, consumers, and activists to get behind improved animal welfare practices, says Tim Faveri, director of sustainability and responsibility for Tim Hortons. “Every quick-service chain like ours is hit with animal welfare resolutions at annual meetings and in the social media,” Faveri said at the recent National Farm […] Read more
Food-service industry feeling the heat, too, says Tim Hortons official
New animal care codes may only intensify scrutiny of livestock sector
Open housing for pigs and roomier cages for chickens aren’t cheap, nor are they likely to be the end of production changes
Reading Time: 3 minutes Within days of the wrap-up of this year’s National Farm Animal Care Council conference, news reports surfaced about a disturbing case of abusive treatment of layer chickens at two Alberta farms. The controversy over the secretly filmed scenes shown on CTV’s “W5” was a reminder of the “strong emotions surrounding animal abuse,” said Jackie Wepruk, […] Read moreFood and agriculture groups join call for faster regulatory harmonization
The Canadian Manufacturing Coalition says a 2011 initiative has made ‘little or no progress’ on harmonizing U.S. and Canadian regulations
Reading Time: 2 minutes Despite the backing of President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a cross-border initiative to harmonize Canadian and American regulations has made paltry progress, says the Canadian Manufacturing Coalition. Announced with considerable fanfare by the two leaders in 2011, the Regulatory Cooperation Council has made “little or no progress,” the coalition says in a […] Read moreMeat and grain representatives welcome trade deal, but…
Reading Time: 3 minutes While a flock of export-oriented farm commodity groups quickly issued statements endorsing the proposed Canada-Europe free trade deal, other organizations and opposition politicians tempered their support with a caution to wait until all the details are known. The Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canadian Pork Council, Grain Growers of Canada and the Canola Council of Canada led […] Read more
Hog farmers have major doubts about benefit of proposed changes
It’s estimated implementing the new national pig code of production could cost farmers $500 million, and could drive many out of the business
Reading Time: 2 minutes Overwhelming outside interest in sow confinement and housing are obscuring other issues that need to be resolved in the national pig code of production, says Catherine Scovil of the Canadian Pork Council. The committee of farmers, food industry reps, and animal welfare experts developing the code was flooded with more than 4,700 comments this summer […] Read moreCanola growers oppose ban on insecticide
Reading Time: 2 minutes Canola farmers oppose calls for a ban on neonicotinoid insecticides because there is no scientific evidence linking its use in planting their crop with harm to bee populations, says Cheryl Mayer, director of policy development with the Canadian Canola Growers Association. “Any action taken should be based on science and there has not been evidence […] Read more
Not delaying bee action, Health Canada says
Reading Time: < 1 minute Health Canada is denying a claim by Sierra Club Canada that it won’t take any action on controversial neonicotinoid insecticides until 2018. “Health Canada is working closely with provincial authorities, beekeepers and the pesticide industry to implement exposure reduction measures in time for the 2014 planting season, and to find additional ways to further reduce […] Read more
Effort to cut red tape on meat labelling divides food industry
Reading Time: < 1 minute A move to end “pre-market approval” of labels for meat products is receiving a thumbs-up from meat processors while others in the food industry condemn it as a backward step. Having to submit labels to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) before they could be used on products was “unnecessary, bureaucratic and discriminatory regulation,” said […] Read more
CFIA lays out details of food safety regulatory overhaul
Reading Time: 2 minutes Traceability will gain a more prominent place on the menu, and food companies will be required to develop preventive control plans under a new regulatory plan proposed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The proposals, which follow the passage of the Safe Food for Canadians Act last fall, still have to be put into the […] Read more
Break in Russian ractopamine meat ban possible
Reading Time: < 1 minute Russian veterinarians and meat inspectors are coming to Canada to examine measures Canadian companies have taken in order to become eligible to ship more meat free from the feed additive ractopamine, says Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz. “We will try to show them how our companies can keep beef and pork treated with ractopamine separate from […] Read more
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