US to audit Canadian Food Inspection Agency

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is set to be audited by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the first time since 2009.

As part of the audit, which will be conducted later this month, a team of US officials will evaluate the inspection procedure followed by Canada.

The team will assess factors such as how much E.coli testing is done compared to other pathogen testing, and whether the procedure is equivalent to what the US follows.

The audit will also include a visit to XL Foods’ plant in Alberta, which has been recently linked to a massive E.coli outbreak in Canada.

CFIA spokesman Guy Gravel said that the audit is routine and was not prompted by the E.coli outbreak related to XL Foods’ plant.

In September 2012, Canadian meat company XL Foods initiated a recall of a number of ground beef products that were sold at major grocery stores in several provinces in Canada as they may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 bacteria.

According to the CFIA, to date more than 1,800 beef products from the XL Foods plant have been recalled and nearly 15 people have been sickened across Canada after consuming the company’s products.

In the last CFIA audit by the US, which was conducted in 2009, the inspectors found that the Canadian inspectors were unable to effectively verify sanitation and hazard protection in some slaughter plants, but noted that the CFIA was seeking to take actions to address the weaknesses.

The USDA report also pointed out that the objective of the 2009 audit was to ensure that Canada followed food safety standards equivalent to that of the US.