Mad Cow Walks On PM's Story

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Mad Cow

Canada's new Prime Minister Stephen Harper wanted to put food safety front and center this week, but he probably did not want help from an aged Alberta cow who showed up with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Here's how it played out.  On Monday, the PM announced the Government of Canada would be taking preventive measures in 2008 to ensure food safety.  On Tuesday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the 13-year old beef cow from Alberta did suffer from BSE. The animal's carcass was said to be under CFIA control and no part of it entered either the human or animal food systems.

The discovery will not change Canada's risk status for BSE under World Organization for Animal Health guidelines.  That is because the aged cow was born before Canada's feed ban went into effect in 1997.

The PM meanwhile is promising to "transform the government’s approach to regulating product safety. For the first time in Canada, instead of merely reacting to problems, the regulations will be designed to prevent them."

New measures will include:

  • Mandatory product recalls when companies fail to act on legitimate safety concerns.
  • Making importers responsible for the safety of goods they bring into Canada.
  • Increasing maximum fines under the Food and Drug Act from $5,000 up to current international standards.
  • Better safety information for consumers and guidance to industries on building safety throughout their supply chains.

    Because of the date of the feed ban, Canada expects it will continue to identify a small number of BSE infected animals over the next decade or so.  The detection program has tested about 190,000 of the animals considerd most at risk.  The government says the surveillance results reflect an extremely low incidence of BSE in Canada.

    Harper food safety remarks were delivered in Ottawa at a Salvation Army Toy Depot.   The aged Mad Cow was found on a farm near Red Deer, Alberta.

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