Canadian Meat Council March 2013 Bulletin CBC Power in Politics Inside this issue: Executive Director Jim Laws appeared on CBC TV’s Power and Politics on Thursday Membership 2 January 10, 2013. He debated with Mr. Tony Corbo from Food and Water Watch on the Report issue of the Beyond the Border meat inspection pilot project. Food and Water Watch is a very well-funded lobby group with almost 70 full time employees that is opposed to any 2 Annual changes to the current US border inspection system. Conference Jim Laws argued that the pilot project merely moves meat inspection from the Canada-US Technical 3 border to a USDA inspected meat facility inland—thus alleviating congestion at the border Update and not compromising food safety in any way. Government 4 and Media You can view the video clip “US confidence in Canadian Meat” at http://www.cbc.ca/player/ Relations News/TV+Shows/Power+%26+Politics+with+Evan+Solomon/ID/2325555950/. International 5 Trade Regulatory 6 Affairs Pork 7 Committee Staff Contact 7 Information CBC Lang & O’Leary Exchange Executive Director Jim Laws appeared on CBC TV’s Lang and O’Leary Exchange on Friday February 15, 2013. He explained the many reasons why beef burgers here in Canada would never contain undeclared horsemeat as has recently happened in Europe. In Canada, it is illegal to sell food in a manner that is misleading or deceptive. Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspectors are present in all federally registered slaughter and processing establishments to verify that meat products are produced in accordance with the Canadian law. In addition to visual inspection, the CFIA tests domestic and imported products to verify that meat products are indeed the stated species. Following reports from Europe of horsemeat found in hamburger patties and frozen lasagna, University of Guelph researchers at the Biodiversity Institute of Ontario (BIO) used advanced DNA testing to examine 15 sources of Canadian hamburger meat in late January of 2013. Six of the sources tested were cooked and nine frozen. The six cooked hamburgers tested for DNA from horsemeat and other sources include A&W Mama Burger, Burger King’s Whopper, Dairy Queen’s FlameThrower, Harvey’s Original, McDonald’s Big Mac, and Wendy’s Bacon Double Cheeseburger. All were 100 percent beef. Page 2 The uncooked, frozen hamburger patties tested include Beef Steakettes (Schneiders), Lick’s Homeburgers, M&M Meat Shops Supreme Homestyle Beef Burgers, No Name Beef Burgers (Loblaws), Outlaw Beef Burgers (Schneiders), President’s Choice Thick and Juicy Beef Burgers, and Webers Beef Burgers. Fresh lean ground beef in a tube (Better Beef -- Cargill) and Food Basics fresh lean ground beef were also tested. There are only four federally registered establishments that perform horse slaughter in Canada—two in Quebec and two in Alberta. Over 85% of Canada’s horse meat is exported. There are an estimated 500 people employed across Canada in Canada’s horse meat processing sector. Canada exported 17.7 million kilograms of horsemeat valued at almost $90 million in 2012 to 15 different countries. The major markets were Switzerland, Japan, France, Belgium and Kazakhstan. The average value of exported horsemeat sales was $5.08 per kilogram. The average value of exported beef last year was $4.46 per kilogram and the average value of pork was $2.69. Last year Canada shipped approximately 1.2 billion kilograms of pork and 271 million kilograms of beef. You can view the video clip at the 34 minute mark at: http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Business/Lang+%26+O% 27Leary+Exchange/ID/2335857526/. Membership Report New Members: Regular Members: JBS Canada Inc. - A meat processing and slaughter facility based in Calgary, Alberta. Associate Members: Americana Meat Purveyors - A trading company based in St. Hubert, Quebec. Dasa International LLC - A trading company based in Atlanta, Georgia. G.E. Leblanc Inc. - A company that provides equipment to the meat industry based in St-Anselme, Quebec. Retail/Food Service Members: Canadian Meat Council’s 93rd Annual Conference The Canadian Meat Council will be holding its 93rd Annual Conference on May 29 - 31, 2013 at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta. Hotel Information: A block of rooms are available at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel for a reduced conference rate, from $309 per night. To reserve a room, contact the Fairmont at 1-800-441-1414 and refer to the Canadian Meat Council to receive the conference rate. You may also book online: http://www.fairmont.com/reservations/check-availability/? hc=BSH&pc=GBIF. Sponsorship Forms are available on our website www.cmc-cvc.com. More information and registration forms will be available shortly. Page 3 Technical Update E. coli In February 2013, the Canadian Meat Council E. coli working group has revised the policy on control of E. coli O157:H7 (MOP Ch. 4, Annex O) that the CFIA has provided for industry comments. The CFIA expressed the intention of publishing a final version by early March and implementation by April 1, 2013. Likewise, the working group is reviewing the Health Canada’s Guidance Document on E. coli that should be published by April 2013. Meat Cuts Manual - Harmonization of Meat Nomenclature US-CANADA The Canadian Meat Council proposed to CFIA the names of participants for the different sub-committees (beef, pork, lamb, veal and byproducts) to oversee the required changes (Canadian input), the maintenance and updating of the Institutional Meat Purchasing Specifications (IMPS) and the NAMA Meat Buyer’s Guide. In some committees the review process has already begun. The committees will be meeting via a series of conference calls until consensus is reached on the changes for both the IMPS and the Meat Buyer’s Guide. The committee members will focus on additions that should be made to the book (either new items or variations of existing items), any items which are obsolete and not commonly traded that could be removed and a review of the introductory material for changes, and the glossary for terms that need to be changed or added. List of priority interventions Status Date Posted Intervention to be approved February 2013 1 Nov 2010 Lauric Arginate (LAE) Under review 2 Nov 2010 Nisin With petitioner 3 Nov 2010 Bovibrom Approved 4 May 2012 Bovibrom used in water applied to organs With petitioner 5 Nov 2011 Avibrom Approved 6 May 2012 Other use of Avibrom - poultry via bird washer Final stages 7 May 2012 Other use of Avibrom - water supply to ice machines Final stages 8 Aug 2011 Citrolow (citric acid and hydrocholoric acid) With petitioner 9 Nov 2010 Sodium and potassium lactates added to uncooked meats to suppress the growth of pathogens Approved 10 Aug 2011 Sodium diacetate for fresh meats Approved 11 May 2012 Benzoic acid and its salts (sodium and potassium) and/or propionic acid and its salts (sodium and calcium) No submission 12 Aug 2012 Beefxide use on primal, cut, trim, offal without a potable water rinse With petitioner 13 Feb 2013 Finalyse - phage product Under review 14 Nov 2010 Irradiation of beef carcasses (low level e-beam as a processing aid) No submission 15 Nov 2010 Irradiation of ground beef No submission 16 Aug 2011 Industry seeking identification of HPP as a post lethality kill step, to allow treated products to be considered category 2A for Lm Under review 17 Aug 2011 HPP, Process modification approvals requested Under review 18 Aug 2011 Exeption from rapid cooling requirements requested Under review 19 Aug 2011 Allowance for use of KCI as a NaCI replacement Under review 20 Nov 2010 A clean mechanism to move processors that meet the Listeria monocytogenes alternative 2 requirements to alternative 2 status Guidance document published 21 Nov 2010 Accelerate the approval timelines of using rapid science based products or methods for microbial diagnostics Under review 22 Aug 2011 Consideration for approval of food additives/preservatives must go through and extensive and very lengthy scientific evaluation New food Legislative Authoritie CANADIAN MEAT COUNCIL TECHNICAL MEETINGS CALENDAR 2013 April 19, 2013 Regional meeting, CFIA-CMC, Quebec Montreal April 26, 2013 Regional meeting, CFIA-CMC, Ontario Mississauga The Fairmont Banff Springs May 29, 2013 Technical Committee Banff, Alberta Sheraton Toronto Airport October 2, 2013 Technical Committee Room Zermatt, Toronto Sheraton Toronto Airport October 3-4, 2013 Technical Symposium Room Alpine, Toronto Page 4 Government and Media Relations Canadian Meat Council Website: In addition to its traditional role of acting as an information exchange resource for Canadian Meat Council members, the new website was designed to facilitate and encourage enhanced outreach and communication with politicians, government officials, academia, educators, the media and consumers on issues of priority interest to them: food safety; nutrition and health; animal health and welfare; and, international trade. Cumulatively and progressively during the coming months, the four theme boxes will be populated with policy and technical documents that address various aspects of these high profile subjects. Parliament Hill Day: Members of the Board of Directors are scheduled to engage in a series of meetings with leading Parliamentarians and senior government officials on Wednesday, March 6. This will be the first such event for the CMC since 2005. During the months that follow, attention will focus on coordinating meetings with Members of Parliament who represent constituencies in which CMC member companies provide employment opportunities.