New Food Safety Legislation
FCPC has been working closely with the federal government to help modernize our existing food safety laws. The new legislation focuses on prevention and will also consolidate existing laws into one allowing for greater consistency across product categories and harmonizing enforcement powers. New offences related to product tampering have been introduced, and higher financial penalties for food safety violations have been authorized. Recently the government also introduced amendments to the Food and Drugs Act in Bill C-38 which will bring about much needed improvement to the way food is approved in Canada.
Nancy Croitoru, President & CEO, Food & Consumer Products of Canada suggests that “Canadians already enjoy some of the safest food products in the world. The proposed Safe Foods for Canadians Act will definitely further enhance Canada’s reputation as global food safety leaders.” I hope they don’t stop there. How about labelling GMO products, too?
Good to Know
- The food and consumer products manufacturing industry employs 300,000 Canadians – the largest employer in the manufacturing sector.
- The industry operates more than 6,000 manufacturing facilities in both urban and rural areas in every region in the country.