The Technical Program is in-line with the council's strategic objective of continuing to improve the safety of meat and poultry products.

Council's Technical Director communicates with the Technical Committee on a regular basis through e-mail, conference calls and meetings. A Technical Update outlining the status of specific technical issues is distributed along with the member's bulletin on a bi-monthly basis. Meetings are held four times per year in various cities across Canada. Members meet with CFIA and Health Canada representatives in May and December twice a year to discuss important technical issues facing the Canadian meat industry.

Listeria monocytogenes Intervention and Control

Publications of interest:

Achieving Continuous Improvement in Reductions in Foodborne
Listeriosis—A Risk-Based Approach

ILSI Research Foundation/Risk Science Institute, Expert Panel on Listeria monocytogenes in Foods, Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 68, No. 9, 2005, Pages 1932–1994

Control of Listeria monocytogenes in the Food-Processing Environment
R. B. Tompkin, Journal of Food Protection, Vol. 65, No. 4, 2002, Pages 709–725

Consumer information:

Listeria and Food Safety (Health Canada)

Food Safety for Older Adults (USDA)

Five Keys to Safer Food (WHO)

Food Safety

Food Safety is the most important priority of the Canadian Meat and Poultry industry. Under the Canadian Meat Inspection Act enforced in 1907, federal meat inspection veterinarians and inspectors monitor the safety and wholesomeness of the meat from the time of slaughter and through further phases of processing. The Canadian Meat Council works closely with Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to ensure that the integrity of the Canadian Meat Industry is not compromised by an occurrence of pathogenic bacteria.

Canadian federally inspected meat plants now operate under an internationally recognized HACCP (Hazards Analysis Critical Control Points)-based food safety program. In Canada this program is known as the Food Safety Enhancement Program, better known as FSEP. HACCP is an essential component of a pro-active food safety system to ensure meat is safe by managing the chemical, physical and biological hazards affecting meat production and processing. For more information on FSEP and HACCP, refer to the CFIA website at www.inspection.gc.ca.

Fact Sheets:

Escherichia coli O157:H7

Listeria monocytogenes

Salmonella

Microbial Intervention

Antimicrobial agents, food additives and processing aids are keys issues for the meat industry in controlling pathogenic bacteria. The Canadian Meat Council's Technical Committee is organized to work actively with Health Canada to obtain approvals by providing technical and scientific supporting data.

Fact Sheets:

Lactic acid (coming soon)

Sodium acetate (coming soon)

Sodium diacetate

Sodium nitrite

Sodium lactate (coming soon)

Labelling

Meat and poultry products should provide substantial information on their labels to inform consumers. Information displayed is carefully regulated by law under the Consumer Packaging and Labeling Act and Regulations.

Fact Sheets:

Nutrition labelling (coming soon)

Product of Canada (coming soon)

Research and Development

The Canadian meat Industry needs a wide approach to science and technology, focusing on challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for the competitiveness of the entire meat industry. With its research committee constituted of members scientific people the Canadian Meat Council is well established to work with the national and international research community around industry research priorities.

Canadian Meat Council's Research Priorities

• Animal handling and transport projects that are based on Canadian conditions of weather and distances
• Technologies that create microbiological hurdles during the transport, assembly and kill floor stages of processing
• Research that creates improved shelf-life for processed and fresh meats
• Effective control of infectious diseases affecting Canadian meat sector
• Control of foodborne pathogens such as E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella , Listeria and Campylobacter both in the farm and processing environment
• Value addition and new product development in meat processing
• Options for disposal of Specified Risk Materials (SRM's)

Key Projects and Accomplishments

• Robotic automation for pork cutting
• Computer vision system for beef carcass grading
• Connective tissue probe to detect beef tenderness
• Lactic acid spray of primal and subprimals