There are staff shortages in food inspection says Bob
Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union representing food inspectors
working for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The union commissioned a survey by Abacus Data and learned
that 70 per cent of inspectors working in meat-packing plants say that there
are worrisome food safety issues. Half of the inspectors at other plants have
similar concerns.
Kingston is raising the concerns as the agency, which has
been transferred from the agriculture to the health department, is preparing to
revamp its services.
The last revamp resulted in more onus being placed on
companies to have food-safety protocols in place and to gather data to document
compliance.
The upcoming revamp may include logging the data
electronically.
Kingston says the Harper government cut food-inspection
budgets by $56 million.
The Liberals made a campaign promise to increase the
budget by $80 million over four years.
If money could buy food safety, we should have had it long ago. It takes consistent discipline and a corporate culture of quality and compliance.
