ROLE OF PROVINCIAL AND FEDERAL LAWS IN FOOD SAFETY

Almost four million Canadians have to visit a doctor every year. Their count is increasing every year. Food contamination causes much of this increase. The government of Canada prioritizes the concept of food safety for this reason. 

All provincial and federal government authorities are committed to educating everyone involved in the world of food production, food selling, manufacturing, restaurants, hotels, motels, and eateries.

All food business owners and professionals need to understand the roles of provincial and federal laws in food safety. Recognizing the impact of their roles on food brands, professionals, and consumers is of the utmost importance.

This understanding could be achieved by knowing the list of provincial and federal agencies responsible for regulating the food industry in Canada. 

Provincial And Federal Agencies That Create Food Safety Laws In Canada

These agencies create laws to regulate the Canadian food industry. Their job is to introduce and implement rules to ensure the safe production, manufacturing, and selling of food items to protect consumers’ health. Listed below are those Canadian provincial and federal agencies: 

  • CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency).
  • PHAC (Public Health Agency of Canada).
  • HC (Health Canada).

Food safety supervisors, inspectors, professionals, and food business owners are involved in the development and implementation of food protection laws in Canada. A complete and accurate understanding of the laws that protect food items and consumers’ health is essential. 

Provincial And Federal Food Safety Acts In Canada:

Protecting food items’ health is a key responsibility. Provincial and federal agencies oversee the food safety process and advise food business owners to obtain a food safety certificate from an accredited institute. Take a look below to know these acts:

  • Food and Drugs Act.
  • Health Protection And Promotion Act.

Next sections will discuss the role of provincial and federal agencies in food safety and the importance of two acts listed above.

How Provincial And Federal Agencies In Canada Address Food Health Concerns?

All these agencies do different things for it. Their roles and responsibilities differ significantly. Their powers also differ. But one thing common among them is that they are committed to achieving the same goal. Following sections explain the way these provincial and federal agencies in Canada address food health concerns. 

CFIA (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)

This science protects the well-being of Canadian nationals’ health. The body does everything necessary to safeguard the following:

  • The food supply of Canada.
  • Plants.
  • Animals.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) performs several functions to ensure the quality and safety of food items in Canada. The list includes: 

  • Administration of federal statutes and regulations that address food health concerns in Canada.
  • The implementation of federal statutes and regulations to ensure the safety of food in Canada.
  • Extending complete support needed to safeguard sustainable animal and plant resource base.
  • Working closely with partners to ensure the following:
  • Implementation of measures related to food health concerns in Canada.
  • Effective management of food, animals, plant risks, incidents, and emergencies.
  • Ensuring the development of food safety and disease control systems.
  • Ensuring agriculture, agri-food, and fisher products through the development of control systems that ensure the prevention of diseases through the safety of food items.
  • Verifying the compliance of domestic and international products.
  • The registration and inspection of establishments.
  • Performing activities that test the safety level of food items.
  • Performing activities that address food health concerns.
  • Providing approval to agricultural inputs.
  • Performing research and development needed to support food safety investigations and monitoring programs.
  • Effective assessment of compliance with Health Canada’s (HC) policies, regulations, standards and guidelines related to domestic and imported food.
  • Determining the level of risks posed to the health of Canadian consumers through contaminated food consumption.
  • Determining the volume of distribution.
  • Determining food health concerns.
  • Paying attention to processing and consumer handling practices.
  • Balancing the weight of evidence.
  • Effective application of appropriate measurements related to the safety of food items.
  • Using risk assessments as an input while making decisions related to risk management.
  • Confiscation or seizing products.
  • Suspension of revoking licenses and permits if a food brand or employee does not have a food safety certification and does not comply with relevant regulations.
  • Imposing fines for disobeying regulations related to food health.
  • Recommendation of prosecution.
  • The agency collaborates with the following:
  • Other federal departments.
  • Other federal agencies.
  • Provincial, territorial, and municipal authorities.
  • Private industries.
  • National and international stakeholders.

PHAC (Public Health Agency of Canada):

The provision of public health services in Canada at the provincial and jurisdiction levels is the duty of municipal and local level authorities. Canadian provincial and territorial government bodies offer support for LPHS (Local Public Health Services) with assistance for the following: 

  • Assistance in planning.
  • Budget administration.
  • Technical assistance provision.

Public health in Canada is considered a provincial and territorial priority. However, the federal government reserves all rights and powers to legislate public health aspects as specified in the following acts:

  • The Department Of Health Act.
  • The Public Health Agency Of Canada Act.

The outbreak of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2003 is the reason for the development of the Public Health Agency of Canada in September 2004. It has been developed to achieve the following goals:

  • Constant and consistent contribution to federal efforts to identify and mitigate public risk factors.
  • To provide support needed to ensure national readiness for public health threats.
  • Performing activities related to disease surveillance and control.
  • Promoting cooperation with provincial and territorial governments.

PHAC facilitates meaningful interactions with the following: 

  • Provincial and territorial governments.
  • Other stakeholders.
  • Nationwide coordination of enteric disease surveillance.

The Public Health Agency of Canada conducts disease surveillance to ensure food safety in Canada. This disease surveillance is conducted to achieve the following objectives: 

  • Quick, accurate, and timely identification of the following:
  • Outbreak and monitoring of trends.
  • Outbreak and monitoring of environmental infectious diseases.
  • Outbreak and monitoring of diseases that spread because of contaminated food, water, and the environment.
  • Fast and accurate detection of increases among vectors. This indicates the possibility of an increase in the risk of infection.
  • Identification of risks for the following:
  • Informed risk management.
  • Informed policy and regulation development.
  • Providing evidence to ensure fast development and accurate monitoring and assessment for the following:
  • Interventions
  • Food health concerns related programs.
  • These actions aim to reduce chances of disease and antimicrobial resistance. PHAC’s list of other resistance includes:
  • Supporting the development of necessary diagnostics tests leveraging the data related to public health on new and emerging disease strains.
  • Contributing to international surveillance efforts.
  • Meeting global commitments.
  • Ensuring implementation of WHO’s (World Health Organization) International Health Regulations.

Enteric diseases fall in the category of more complex diseases. The Public Health Agency of Canada conducts national comprehensive and national surveillance using multiple surveillance systems for this reason. 

  • The data forwarded by the PHAC could be laboratory or public health-based. The entire set of data collected and provided to PHAC through these systems is summarised and presented in annual reports to ensure support for the following through data:
  • Regulators that conduct risk assessments.
  • Improvement in the understanding of existing sources of infection.
  • Inform investigations related to food health concerns and the safety of food.
  • Meaningful contribution to help identify important sources and pathways of every enteric pathogen that spreads food-borne illnesses in Canada.

This says a lot about the role PHAC plays in Canada’s food safety. 

HC (Health Canada):

This federal department collaborates with several departments to achieve the health-related goals mentioned below:

  • Prevent and reduce risk to the environment.
  • Prevent and reduce risk to the health of every individual.
  • Promote a healthy lifestyle.
  • Ensure efficient, easy-to-access, and high-quality health services.
  • Health system’s renewal integration with long-term plans on health risk prevention, health promotion, and health protection.
  • Address inequalities in Canadian society on health and safety issues.
  • Providing health information and important data Canadians need to make informed decisions about their health.
  • Developing and implementing policies, regulations, standards, and guidelines for the food safety and nutritional quality of every food item sold throughout Canada.
  • Providing HRA (Health Risk Assessments) related to food health hazards to the CFIA and other stakeholders, including provincial and territorial governments.
  • Providing scientific advice and analytical surge capacity to CFIA, all stakeholders, and provincial/territorial governments to analyse the following:
  • Microbial contaminants.
  • Chemical contaminants.
  • Non-permitted food additives.
  • Chemicals used in food packaging materials.
  • Processing aids.
  • Incidental additives.
  • Undeclared food allergens in food.
  • Undeclared food allergens in clinical samples.
  • Conducting scientific assessments of the following:
  • Risk
  • Benefits
  • The efficiency needed to support standard-setting and investigations related to food health concerns in Canada.
  • Providing information and authoritative advice public, health, and consumer organizations need.
  • Conducting research and post-market surveillance to support the following:
  • Standard setting.
  • Risk assessments.
  • Informational roles.

These provincial and federal agencies contribute to the Canadian food safety system and initiatives.

Provincial and Federal Laws That Impact The Canadian Food Industry:

Laws play an important role in helping address food health concerns in Canada. This is why Canadians have strict laws to safeguard their health and food items. These laws are implemented at the federal, provincial, territorial, jurisdictional, and municipal levels. 

Let’s first talk about Federal Food Safety Laws In Canada:

Health Canada develops and implements the federal laws discussed here. Even their compliance is also ensured by Health Canada. The following are federal laws being discussed: 

  • Food And Drug Act:

This federal law addresses food health concerns by setting standards for the following:

  • Food production.
  • Food import.
  • Food export
  • Food transport.
  • Food sale.
  • Drugs and cosmetics.

The Food And Drug Act sets these standards at the federal level. Every food industry professional and brand in every Canadian province must adhere to the guidelines specified in this law. 

  • The Consumer Packaging And Labelling Act:

This federal law helps deal with food health concerns differently. This federal law makes it mandatory for all packaged food sellers to provide information about the list of ingredients used in their products. The requirement helps consumers access the necessary information to assess the safety and ingredients of food items. 

  • The Consumer Packaging And Labelling Act:

This federal law solves two purposes to ensure food safety for consumers. First, it determines the standards and grades of agricultural products. Second, it regulates the marketing of consumer products on the import/export and interprovincial trade fronts. 

  • The Safe Foods For Canadian Acts:

This federal law in Canada addresses food health concerns in two different ways. First, it consolidates aspects related following food inspection acts:

  • Fish Inspection Act.
  • Meat Inspection Act.
  • Canada Agricultural Products Act.
  • Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act.

It also helps improve and streamline CFIA’s (Canadian Food Inspection Agency) food safety oversight.  

Time To Talk About Provincial Food Safety Laws:

Every Canadian province addresses food health concerns using its own laws. Take a look below:

Ontario Food Safety Laws:

Every food industry professional, food business owner, and manager is strictly expected to comply with the following laws:

  • Federal Government Food Safety Laws.
  • Ontario Provincial Food Safety Laws.
  • Local Municipal Legislation.
  • Food And Drugs Act.
  • Safe Food For Canadians Act

Compliance with the following provincial laws is also mandatory: 

  • Ontario Food Premises Regulation under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.
  • Ontario Food Safety and Quality Act.

Food handler certification in Ontario province is another legal requirement mandatory to fulfill. Certification renewal is required every five years in Ontario. 

Food businesses and brands operating without certification or expired certification are considered noncompliant with federal and provincial food safety laws in Ontario. Listed below are the serious consequences for them:

  • A visit to your food premises by a food safety inspector.
  • Entry of food inspection team without any notice.
  • Food premises and equipment examination.
  • Collection of food-contaminated food samples.
  • A hefty fine.
  • Issuance of warning notice.
  • Immediate business closure.
  • Licence cancellation.
  • Prosecution
  • Entry of your name and your brand’s name in public records.
  • Inventory confiscation.
  • Damage to your reputation.
  • Damage to the reputation of your brand.

The staff and food business owners must pass the food handler certification exam and obtain food premises-related licenses and permits in Ontario. Compliance with all federal and provincial food safety laws related to food health concerns is important for everyone on the staff.