The food safety operations of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were moved last year from the agriculture to the health minister.
One would think that would improve communications with the Public Health Agency of Canada which also reports to the health minister.
Think again.
On Jan. 22 the Canadian Food Inspection Agency posted information on its website that bagged salads prepared at the Dole company facilities in Springfield, Ohio, were being recalled after officials were able to trace 11 listeria victims in the United States and seven in Canada, and one death in each country, to products prepared there.
It took five days for the Public Health Agency of Canada to post on its website a warning to consumers to not eat bagged salads prepared there.
That included Dole brand and President's Choice brand salads marketed by Loblaws.
Maybe they have no e-mail connections with each other.
And maybe the health minister keeps the two agencies compartmentalized.
Or maybe it's simply normal bureaucratic lethargy.
