On top of all the other challenges, last year saw exceptional strain related to food safety in Canada.
Illnesses related to lettuce sent shockwaves throughout the North American produce industry and brought food safety fiercely back to the forefront.
“Wide-spanning food safety advisories provided challenges for businesses worldwide,” said Ron Lemaire, president of the Canadian Produce Marketing Association (CPMA) in Ottawa, ON. “Any time there’s a concern regarding food safety, it greatly affects our industry and businesses working at all stages along the produce supply chain.”
Brian Lewis, produce director for Federated Co-Operatives Limited in Calgary, echoes the sentiment. “I’m always concerned about food safety, whether it’s our employees in the stores producing value-added products or our growing communities to ensure they’re shipping and producing safe products.”
Last year’s romaine incidents are still on most everyone’s mind. “The recent romaine concerns are evidence of how we should all be concerned about food safety,” Lewis said.
According to George Pitsikoulis, president of Canadawide Fruit Wholesalers Inc. in Montreal, the biggest issue with the romaine crisis was that it was not a specific recall, but an advisory. “That just leaves it open ended in terms of everyone’s responsibilities,” he said.
David Karwacki, CEO of Star Produce Ltd., headquartered in Saskatoon, SK, also acknowledges the challenges created by food safety for suppliers, retailers, and everyone in the industry.
“We’re in the lettuce business now, and we’re doing greenhouse lettuce, which is really great on the safety side,” he said. “But whenever there are large recalls or advisories, they hurt everyone.”
Communication is always key—during and after an incident or crisis. “I think as an industry we want to make sure we give the clear message that fresh produce is still great to eat, tasty, and very clean,” Karwacki said.
Another part of food safety is regulation. Canada recently revamped its food safety protocols for imported foods through the new Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.
