We’ve seen what some might call an explosion in food and related recalls over the past year or so. There are allegedly a number of reasons for the increase. But the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says we’re still ‘safe’…
No long ago, we reported that the volume of food-related recalls in North America had soared over the past few years. There were several reasons, cited by both the agencies involved and the experts…
Too much of a good thing?
You can’t have too much on an issue such as food safety. In the final analysis, those in the know said Canadian recall numbers were increasing not because the food safety system was failing – but be-cause it was doing an even better job than we might have expected…
The preponderance of the increase was in pro-active recalls – largely by manufacturers and suppliers, where the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) or the US FDA had found problems in routine in-spections and caught the products in question before they were distributed en masse to retailers.
What started as a an alarm ended as a very public reassurance that the Canadian food safety is more secure than ever.
US system ‘broken’?
Around the same time, the FDA admitted – to a shocked crowd at the 2025 Food Safety Summit – that it’s ‘wheels turn too slowly’ to keep up with the need for inspections.
“We have more tools now [then ever before] to reach consumers — and we need to use them better.” Dr. Donald Prater, Principal Deputy Director for Human Foods at the FDA, explained. “Speed and com-munication are essential,” he continued. “But we also know we can’t do this alone.”
Alas… “Only 13 percent of Americans have ever visited a government website for food recall inform-ation,” Dr. William Hallman, a behavioral scientist and Professor at Rutgers University observed. “And just 3 percent are subscribed to emails or text alerts.”
We’re alright, Jack!
It’s not nice to brag… But a recent series of testing and monitoring program annual reports for major CFIA departments confirm very high rates of compliance with Canadian food safety standards.
By carefully analyzing the mountains of data it keeps on its testing and inspection activities, the CFIA can also identify potential areas where future food safety risks may occur. This work also sup-ports Canada’s reputation as a trusted global trading partner. Which in turn supports our exporting farmers and food producers.
My take
While the US FDA may have some updating and other issues to attend to, Canada’s CFIA has confirm-ed it’s on he ball. And that means we’re all just that much safer from food safety risks.
On the other hand, I suspect that Canadians are no more diligent than their American cousins about checking their food safety/recall websites regularly. In hopes that folks will form a meritorious habit of doing so, the FFB provides a list of Food Recall website links, for Canada, the US, the UK and the EU, at the bottom of the far-right-hand menu space on every page…
You’re welcome!
~ Maggie J.