Union wants more inspectors on farms

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

The Public Service Alliance of Canada says "flagrant abuse and questionable sanitary practices of pigs intended for human consumption at a hog farm operated by Puratone in Manitoba" wouldn't have occurred if the federal government hired more inspectors.

The union was referring to the Mercy For Animals video aired on CTV's W5 in December.

Alroy Foseca, PSAC's regional political communications officer based in Ottawa, points to a Dec. 10 CTV report from Winnipeg. Richard Holley, a University of Manitoba food scientist, says "if the conditions in which animals are fed are poor, then you're going to automatically find a greater frequency of which there are carcasses that are contaminated with salmonella."

Foseca says inspection of farms is within the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's mandate; "the issue is that there aren't enough inspectors to carry out this part of its mandate."

The news release quoted Larry Rousseau, national capital regional executive vice-president. "We need to prevent another XL Foods-type crisis."

The press release says an organization called FoodSafetyFirst.ca calls for the hiring of 1,000 additional inspectors and an immediate moratorium on industry self-policing in order to ensure safe food for Canadians. The website says: "This site is sponsored by Canada's food inspectors and their union, The Agriculture Union – PSAC." BP