Cambridge Now!

 

McDonalds Canada, one of the world’s largest buyers of Canadian beef, is supporting the Canadian government  to implement mandatory livestock traceability by 2011.

 

What does this mean? In short, the people who sell you a hamburger will be able to know the origin of the beef you’re eating.
 

"McDonald's believes that a robust, national traceability system is critical to ensuring consumer confidence and building brand trust in the beef industry," says Jeff Kroll, senior vice-president of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada guest speaker to the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association.
 

"McDonald's Canada proudly supports the Canadian beef industry," says Kroll. "Beef is at the core of our menu and with the help of our dedicated Canadian partners in the industry, we are meeting the needs of our customers by delivering safety, quality, consistency, and innovation in our varied beef offerings." 
 

"While it's an additional cost, we believe that it's simply the right thing to do.Traceability is the right thing for all of us to do for our businesses and our customers, both domestically and abroad," Kroll says.
 

Growing consumer awareness about food production and demand for greater food safety after the BSE (Mad Cow) outbreak has caused McDonald's to emphasize traceability for all menu items. In 2009, the company purchased 64 million pounds of locally raised Canadian beef, 44 million pounds of chicken and 62 million eggs. In Canada, 2.8 million people eat at McDonald's daily -- almost 10 per cent of the population.

Kroll believes that Canadian consumers will pay more for products which have a safety firewall in place.
 

Traceability is the ability to follow an item or a group of items - be it animal, plant, food product or ingredient - from one point in the supply chain to another, either backwards or forwards. Livestock traceability systems are based upon three basic elements: animal identification; premises identification; and animal movement.

 

Traceability systems are important, effective tools that can be used for many things, including the protection of animal health, public health and food safety. They can help reduce response time, thereby limiting economic, environmental and social impacts of emergency situations such as disease outbreaks.

 

Industry-led animal identification systems currently exist for cattle, bison and sheep. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) enforces identification requirements for these sectors under the Health of Animals Regulations.

 

Animal identification is a fundamental component of livestock traceability. The ability to identify animals and their origins during an animal health or food safety emergency is paramount to the success of the response operation and the protection of human and animal health.

 

The Canadian Cattle Identification Program (CCIP) is an industry-led trace-back system designed to help trace sources of animal health and food safety problems. It was introduced in 2001, and is applicable to all cattle and bison in Canada.

 

 

In practical terms, all cattle and bison must be identified with an approved ear tag before leaving the farm of origin - the farm or ranch where the animal was born.

 

All cattle and bison that are imported must also be identified. An animal may be tagged before importation or upon arrival to its destination. Cattle imported for immediate slaughter do not need to be identified.

 

All tags are embedded with a unique identification number that is allocated by the Canadian Cattle Identification Agency (CCIA), which collects and stores identification information for most provinces in its national database. The exception is the province of Quebec, where the cattle identification program is managed by Agri-Traçabilité Québec (ATQ). All identification numbers are distributed to cattle and bison producers through authorized tag dealers.

 

The unique identification number of each animal is maintained throughout its life, until the animal is slaughtered at an abattoir or exported.

 

Additional regulatory requirements include the following:

 

* All dairy cattle must be identified with two tags — a dangle tag and a Radio-Frequency * Identification (RFID), both bearing the same identification number.

* The manufacturing, sale, and distribution of tags must be reported to the CCIA.

* Lost and damaged tags must be reported to the CCIA and replaced.

*Abattoirs, deadstock operators and rendering plants must report the identification number of slaughtered cattle and bison or the receipt of their carcasses.

* The import and export of cattle and bison must be reported to the CCIA.

 

 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) enforces national identification and movement reporting requirements for cattle and bison under the authority of the Health of Animals Regulations. Violations of any of the requirements may result in warning letters, fines or, in some cases, prosecution.