Welcome to the National Food Safety Training Program.
The Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association (CRFA) developed the National Food Safety Training Program in response to a growing demand for affordable food safety certification that meets the needs of foodservice operators from coast-to-coast.
Designed to train quick-service, full-service, chain and independent operators and food handlers to a national standard of food safety. NFSTP food handler certification is recognized across Canada. NFSTP is now available across Canada through a network of certified trainers.
Here is a video about changing behaviours called All Washed UP...
Dozens of people ill in a suspected outbreak of norovirus at a student journalism conference in Victoria are under voluntary quarantine in their hotel rooms.
About 60 of the 360 people attending the Canadian University Press's annual NASH conference for student journalists are in voluntary isolation Sunday at the Harbour Towers Hotel and Suites in downtown Victoria, delegate Emma Godmere told CBC News.
Godmere, who also fell ill, said paramedics attended the hotel early Sunday morning. Several others went to hospital overnight with what's believed to be norovirus.
Laura Brown of The Aquinian, a student newspaper at Fredericton's St. Thomas University, said that five out of 10 of the paper's staff at the conference have symptoms of norovirus, which include vomiting, diarrhea, cramping, headaches and muscle aches.
"B.C. Public Health ... suggested that based on the evidence that we were sharing with them and the fast spread of what this was, that we're looking at norovirus. It hasn't exactly been confirmed by anyone yet but that's the assumption that we're working with now," said Godmere, CUP's national bureau chief from Toronto.
Delegates had a buffet dinner at the hotel and then boarded buses for an event at the University of Victoria. People started getting sick on the buses, said Jonny Wakefield, a University of British Columbia student. He said three people from his student newspaper fell ill.
"First it was just the one guy who threw up on the back of my head, so for a while I was angry at him. Then I found out everyone else was throwing up as well," said delegate Brennan Bova. The post-dinner event was cancelled.
Most out-of-town delegates were to return home on Sunday, but those who are sick have been asked not to leave the hotel. It's caused some rebooking headaches for the students.
"According to the messages that the conference co-ordinator has been sending us, it's not an official quarantine under B.C. Health, so WestJet can't give us any accommodation," said Brown.
The 74th NASH conference began Wednesday and ended Sunday in Victoria. It was hosted by the Martlet, the student newspaper at the University of Victoria, and the Nexus, the paper for students at Camosun College.
Montreal, a foodie city, lags behind in disclosing restaurant inspections
As much as I love the open data movement and the great apps that citizens create around it, its existence depends on government inaction. In essence, citizens are providing products and services that authorities, depending on your political view, probably should.
An example of this is RestoNet.ca, a child of Montreal’s open data knights. Compare its straightforward, easy-to-use map with its data source, the City of Montreal’s website that lists restaurant hygiene infractions.
Granted, the city may not have the resources or the know-how to make all its services Web 2.0-compliant. And it’s a positive affirmation of community spirit that citizens are taking action, voluntarily, to make tools that help other citizens. If anything, it’s a sign of a healthy society.
However, let us compare the inspection data Montreal offers with those of other Canadian cities.
Toronto Toronto’s DineSafe website makes public all restaurant inspection reports, and it’s updated daily. It also gives each establishment a colour code: green for pass, yellow for conditional pass, and red for closed. This offers an easy-to-understand visual cue.
Since it was implemented in 2001, the compliance rate among restauranteurs has jumped from less than 50% to 92%, according to program head Sylvano Thompson. That means fewer follow-up inspections and better use of resources.
This system has won an international award and it’s being copied by cities in the US, UK, China and Japan. Singapore has been using a similar system quite effectively.
Vancouver Vancouver Coastal Health inspects restaurants and publishes the three most recent reports, though they don’t grade restaurants in any way. However, posting repeat inspection reports does offer an incentive for compliance: restaurants will certainly want diners to see that they have improved their practices if their last inspection raised flags.
Ottawa The EatSafe database is much like Vancouver’s: it lists the results of past inspections, whether pass or fail, although it’s not as detailed.
In Montreal, on the other hand, we only see establishments that have been fined. As a result, we get an incomplete picture of the dining scene: we can’t tell if a restaurant that was fined cleaned up its act. We also don’t see how many times a restaurant failed in proportion to all inspections.
Also, Montreal’s website is poorly updated. The latest reports are form October 2011, even though city spokespeople say it’s supposed to be refreshed monthly. Even so, diners are getting information that are several months late.
It’s wrong to blame only the city, since it must follow provincial regulations. It’s the ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ) that makes the rules regarding restaurant inspections. The city doesn’t have the power to give hygiene grades or force restaurants to display inspections reports.
And the province has been resistant to change since it took over inspection duties in 2002. A March 15, 2004 article in The Gazette comparing Toronto to Montreal said:
Unless there’s significant public pressure, it’s unlikely the system will make its way to Quebec in the near future, said Daniel Tremblay, a food-inspection spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
“There have been groups that have pushed for that in the past,” at parliamentary hearings into food inspection, Tremblay said, but at the moment, no change is expected.
Canada's food inspectors say they fear budget cuts could endanger food safety in Canada.
Bob Kingston, the head of the Agriculture Union, raised the issue Monday morning, along with the daughter of a woman who died of listeriosis in 2008.
An outbreak of the bacteria at a Maple Leaf Food plant in 2008 killed 23 people.
Kingston says Canadian Food Inspection Agency documents tabled in the House of Commons last fall show the federal government plans to eliminate food safety funding that was put in place after the 2008 listeriosis crisis.
The government added money for an additional 170 inspectors for processed meat after the crisis, but the funding was temporary and is due to end in March.
"In addition, it appears that the government also plans to cut back on the frequency with which processed meat establishments are currently inspected," he said.
The Report on Plans and Priorities for CFIA show the food safety program budget dropping from $351.5 million in 2011-12 to $331.9 million in 2012-13, and to $330.4 million in 2013-14.
The number of full-time equivalent staff in the program will drop from 3,177 in 2011-12 to 2,970 in 2012-13, with no further decrease set out for the following year.
The food safety program takes up almost half of CFIA's budget, but that could change. Every department in government is facing cuts as the Conservatives try to bring the federal budget back into balance by 2015.
A spokeswoman for Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz wouldn't say whether the government plans to extend the funding but pointed out the money was only ever available for a limited time.
In a statement, Ritz said the cuts wouldn't affect food safety but he didn't explain why not.
"Canadian families can be assured that the safety of our food supply will not be affected as federal departments and agencies look for ways to be more efficient and more financially prudent with taxpayers' dollars," he said.
"The Government of Canada has and will continue to make the safety and security of Canadians a top priority."
'We can't let this happen'
The budget crunch could be worse, with every federal department having to find cuts of five or 10 per cent. Those cuts will make CFIA "smaller, weaker, less able to ensure compliance with safety requirements than it was even before the listeriosis crisis three and a half years ago," Kingston said.
"Food safety costs money, but less safety can cost a lot more, both in terms of money and human suffering."
The union is starting a campaign called Food Safety First, asking consumers to put pressure on companies like Maple Leaf and on the government to pay for more food inspections.
Karen Clark, whose mother died of listeriosis after eating tainted meat in 2008, said she hopes the food industry will urge the government to extend the funding.
"We can’t let this happen," she said.
"This scares me, quite honestly, to see the federal government’s attitude. It seems as if they think Canadians have forgotten about the listeriosis outbreak and all the people it affected. That they can reduce these programs and inspectors and no one will notice or care.
"Politicians here in Ottawa like to say that food safety is their No. 1 priority. With these plans, it doesn’t seem that way to me."
Food agency database shows rise in serious product recalls
By David McKie, CBC News Posted: Oct 7, 2011 3:12 PM ET Last Updated: Oct 7, 2011 7:06 PM ET
The number of recalls involving possibly deadly food products has increased over the past two years, and it's a trend that is likely to continue as Canada's food safety body steps up its monitoring.
According to a CBC News analysis of product recall data the Canadian Food Inspection Agency posts on its website, the number of its most serious recalls increased from about 129 in 2010 to 147 up until the end of September of this year.
The agency was unable to provide a spokesperson for an interview, but in an e-mailed response, the CFIA confirmed its own internal, more detailed numbers demonstrate a similar trend that could continue next year "at the same rate as we have experienced so far this year."
"The agency is educating itself on how to better monitor risks," says Sylvain Charlebois, a food-safety expert who teaches at the University of Guelph. "And as a result, we're seeing more recalls. So one shouldn't be surprised by that result.
Lettuce from California, some of which was shipped to Alberta, was recently recalled after a sample tested positive for Listeria contamination. Lettuce from California, some of which was shipped to Alberta, was recently recalled after a sample tested positive for Listeria contamination. U.S. Food and Drug Administration
"Because we have a voluntary-based recall system in Canada, we rely on the major players in the industry to recognize which products can pose a threat to consumers. This industry is trying to control and contain risk as much as possible."
Of recalls listed on the agency’s website, listeria and E. coli 0157:H7 caused about half the recalls in the class 1 category, considered to be the most serious because the products could make people sick, and in some cases prove fatal if they are consumed.
The E. coli strain has been the subject of the high-profile recalls of several products lately, including walnuts. The recall for raw-shelled walnut products was first announced on Sept.1, and was expanded on five occasions ending on Sept. 12. The products, which were sold in Ontario and Saskatchewan didn’t result in any reported illnesses or deaths.
The most recent product recall at the time of the CBC’s analysis involving listeria was Romaine lettuce distributed in Calgary and Edmonton. The product may have been contaminated with listeria monocytogenes, the most deadly strain that led to at least 23 deaths and Canada’s largest recall in 2008.
Processed meat contaminated with a deadly strain of listeria at a Toronto-area Maple Leaf Foods plant caused the deaths, many of which were elderly people with weakened immune systems living in nursing homes. The crisis led to two investigations, an out-of-court settlement with the families of the victims, and more stringent testing for listeria at meat processing plants.
One of the outcomes from increased scrutiny of Canada’s food safety system was a pledge by the agency to be more transparent, in part by posting more information about recalls, which it began doing in November of 2009.
The product recalls come in three classes, with the first one being the most serious. The second and third classes are less serious and may lead to recalls. In the past, the agency only alerted Canadians about class 1 recalls in the form of warning letters posted on its website and news releases that may have been picked up by the media.
In 2005, an internal audit was critical of its recall system, concluding that it was broken and needed to be fixed. “A public warning may be issued depending on the seriousness of the health risk, the audit noted. “There is no clear policy on when a recall requires public warning.” Now the agency posts recalls in all three categories in a table that is easier for consumers to read.
Sylvain Charlebois says posting recall data on its website is a good first step, but the agency needs to go further. For instance, information on whether recalls are successful or not are not contained in the database.
The 2005 audit, which the agency says led to many changes, also noted that "….processes and strategies do not appear to be in place for systematically dealing with repeat (recall) offenders."
Charlebois says this is the kind of information that Canadians need in order to have the ultimate confidence in the safety of their food.
"You don’t see a thorough, transparent, risk-communication strategy that really stretches over time. If as a consumer you want to know what has happened with the investigation into Maple Leaf, you'll be hard-pressed to find detailed information about some of the investigations that were ongoing at the time.
"I think we should think about creating a separate agency that would not only convey information to the general public, but this independent agency would also make sure that these investigations are reported to the general public and Parliament. So Parliament knows what’s going on about food policy and food-safety measures.”
Charlebois says these reforms would help restore the public’s confidence in the food they eat. He says research at the University of Guelph shows that confidence has been decreasing ever since the 2008 listeriosis crisis.
This seems to contradict a recent survey conducted for the agency that found 68 per cent of Canadians gave the system a favorable confidence rating, up from 65 per cent in 2010 and 60 per cent in 2008, concluded the agency on its website.
However, the survey concluded, "More communication activities would increase awareness and help provide increased levels of confidence in the system."
If you have specific information about this topic that you’d like to share with David McKie, he can be reached at david_mckie@cbc.ca
CBC News Posted: Oct 7, 2011 9:42 PM AT Last Updated: Oct 7, 2011 9:57 PM AT
Seven children at this daycare contracted the E. coli bacteria. Seven children at this daycare contracted the E. coli bacteria. CBC
A daycare in Dartmouth, N.S., believes it has stopped an outbreak of the E. coli bacteria.
Seven children at Crystal Daycare and two of their siblings have been infected by the bacteria since the middle of August, but the outbreak did not originate at the daycare.
Dr. Gaynor Watson-Creed, the medical health officer for the capital region, said there hasn't been a new case since last week.
"That's typically how outbreaks will go. It's not like there's a big source at the daycare that we can come in and clamp down on it, clean up and be done," she said Friday.
"It's the children that are the ongoing source and catching up with them and their disease can be a challenge. An outbreak like this can go on for several weeks for that reason. It's been exhausting for the parents, it's been exhausting for the daycare staff."
More than 90 children use the facility and public health officials say the E. coli was brought in by one of them. Extra cleaning, isolation of sick kids
Daycare workers have been disinfecting everything in the centre twice a week since the outbreak began.
"It's not just upping their environmental cleaning, but also in terms of being really strict on the isolation of sick children. A child may be perfectly well in the morning and by three o'clock they're sick. As soon as they spot that, that child's going home," Watson-Creed said.
"In this case, because it's E. coli, we always take the step of saying the children can't come back until we've seen a negative stool sample."
Watson-Creed said E. coli can cause problems for young children because it produces a toxin that can attack organs, particularly the bowels and kidneys.
Three of the affected children are already back at the centre. Watson-Creed said health officials will continue to monitor the daycare just in case the outbreak flares up again.
Comparison of Different Washing Treatments for Reducing Pathogens on Orange Surfaces and for Preventing the Transfer of Bacterial Pathogens to Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice
The objectives of this study were to compare the effectiveness of various washing treatments for reducing Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella sp., and Listeria monocytogenes populations on orange surfaces and to measure the effect of some of these treatments in preventing the transfer of pathogens during juice extraction.
Orange surfaces inoculated with L. monocytogenes or a mixture of E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella Typhimurium were washed by water spray and then sprayed with or dipped in water at 80°C for 1 min, 70% ethanol for 15, 30, or 45 s or 1, 2, or 4 min, 2 or 4% lactic acid solution at 55°C for 15, 30, or 45 s or 1, 2, or 4 min, or 200 mg/liter hypochlorite at pH 6.5 or 10 for 15 s. The surviving populations of these pathogens on the oranges were enumerated after each treatment. In a further stage, the ability of these pathogens to be transferred to the juice during extraction was tested. Juice was obtained from inoculated oranges that were subjected to selected treatments using chlorine, lactic acid, ethanol, and hot water as described above, and then bacterial counts in orange juice were determined.
The application of these treatments reduced the populations of pathogens on orange surfaces by 1.9 to >4.9 log, 1.9 to >4.6 log, and 1.4 to 3.1 log cycles for E. coli O157:H7, Salmonella Typhimurium, and L. monocytogenes, respectively. The treatments using hot water or lactic acid showed greater reductions than other treatments. The time, antimicrobial concentration, and form of application affected the bacterial reduction. All treatments resulted in undetectable counts in the juice. Nevertheless, pathogens were recovered by the enrichment-plating method. Treatment of oranges before juice extraction may reduce the risk associated with consuming orange juice.
Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.4315/0362-028X.JFP-10-357
Affiliations:1: Departamento de Farmacobiología, Universidad de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco 44430, México 2: Department of Animal Science, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843-2471, USA;, Email: a-castillo@tamu.edu
Norovirus outbreak suspected at B.C. student conference more...
10:08 PM,Jan 18
NFSTP Administrator
Montreal, a foodie city, lags behind in disclosing restaurant inspections more...
04:31 PM,Jan 16
NFSTP Administrator
Food safety at risk with budget cuts expected, union says more...
02:11 PM,Oct 11
NFSTP Administrator
Food agency database shows rise in serious product recalls more...
02:07 PM,Oct 11
NFSTP Administrator
E. coli outbreak contained at Dartmouth daycare more...
01:59 PM,Oct 11
NFSTP Administrator
Comparison of Different Washing Treatments for Reducing Pathogens on Orange Surfaces and for Preventing the Transfer of Bacterial Pathogens to Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice more...
Welcome to the National Food Safety Training Program.
