Dr. Oetker buys McCain pizza

Dr. Oetker has bought the frozen pizza business from McCain Foods.

No financial terms were disclosed.

Dr. Oetker built a new plant in London, Ont., to serve the North American market.

McCain is selling its brands, including Ellio’s in the United States, and a two-year licence to use the McCain brand name in Canada.

It is also getting McCain production facilities at Grand Falls New Brunswick and McCain said pizza represents a small portion of its North American business and the move will allow it to focus on other areas.

McCain is the world’s largest producer of frozen French fry potatoes.

                           

Alberta hit by outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7

Alberta’s health officials are trying to track down the source of E. coli 0157:H7 bacteria that has sickened at least 120 people so far.

Officials say since July 15 there have been 59 confirmed cases in Calgary, 48 cases in Edmonton, seven cases in the South, six cases in the North and two cases in the Central zone.

Two years ago Albertans were the first to be sickened by E. coli 0157:H7 from the XL Foods Ltd. plant at Brooks.

That led to the biggest beef recall in Canadian history, temporary closure of the plant which was Canada’s second-largest beef-slaughtering facility and the sale of the business to JBS USA.

Tribunal chicken decision published

The decision to adjourn an appeal by independent chicken processors seeking chicken supplies to meet specialty-market demand has been published this week.

The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal declined a bid by the Association of Ontario Chicken Processors to dismiss the appeal, noting that the Chicken Farmers of Ontario marketing board has yet to implement its specialty-markets policy.

During the public hearing, the chicken board and the large-processor organization argued that the specialty-markets policy under appeal is undergoing substantial revisions to bring it in line with national-agency policies.

They said the old policy would be withdrawn or substantially changed before the end of July.

But the tribunal noted that the policy was still in place when the appeal was launched and decided to adjourn, awaiting the outcome of the promise to revamp or withdraw the old policy before the end of July.

There have been no indications on the chicken board’s website or from its information services that the policy has been withdrawn or revamped.

The chicken board has failed to respond to requests for information about its handling of five applications to supply the kosher market in Ontario. 

CFIA pot calls USDA kettle black

In a tit-for-tat review, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has audited some meat-packing plants in the United States and is calling for improvements.

The Americans issued a similar audit and comments about the Canadian Food Inspection Agency earlier this year.

“The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the U.S. food inspection system is working as intended but recommended some improvements,” writes Tom Johnson of Meatingplace Magazine.

CFIA’s report covers 12 meat processing plants, two USDA offices and a government microbiology laboratory. The audit took place from Feb. 5 to Feb. 22, 2013.

The report identified the following areas where FSIS could make improvements:

• Animal welfare requirements for poultry and pork in the United States
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• Ante-mortem inspection procedures for poultry
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• Specified Risk Material controls in inedible products (i.e. related to mad cow’s disease) and appropriate validation regarding edible product
• 
  
• Immplementation of Food Safety and Inspection Service (of the United States Department of Agriculture) requirements for validation for 5-7 D reduction of Salmonella in U.S. establishments producing non-heat treated RTE (ready to eat) products

• HACCP(Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) requirements and implementation in FSIS regulated establishments

Overall, however, the report concluded that the USDA/FSIS food safety system is performing “as intended in an adequate manner.” As such, no plants were delisted (i.e. banned from exporting to Canada) as a result of the audit.

CFIA found non-compliance issues at two plants, but the USDA/FSIS officials and plants made the appropriate corrective actions within 30 days of the audit.

From Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2012, the United States exported 713,073,375 kilograms of raw and processed meat and poultry products to Canada.

Women are backbone of farming

Danielle Nierenberg of  the Food Think Tank says “women are the backbone of farming. “Across the planet, women and girl farmers play a big role in changing the food system and creating a well-nourished world. “In fact, approximately 70 percent of all farmers in the developing world are women. “In poor and rich nations alike, they are taking on more defined roles in food and agriculture.” She has helped to produce a video about this situation. “If access to new technology and resources is made available to women farmers, yields could increase by 20 to 30 percent and could reduce the number of hungry people in world by 100 to 150 million people,” Nierenberg writes. “When women have the right tools, they have limitless potential. “According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), ‘healthy, educated, and empowered women are more likely to have healthy, educated, and confident children.’ “Yet, while women are responsible for the majority of food production, they are also more likely to suffer from hunger during food shortages. “Addressing the deep-rooted inequalities that currently prevent women from gaining equal access to tools and resources will level the playing field and help close the gender gap,” she writes.

Dairy council challenges OMAFRA

The Ontario Dairy Council is taking the government to an appeal before the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Appeal Tribunal.

The tribunal has posted notice of a public hearing Dec. 16 at the tribunal hearing room at OMAFRA head office in Guelph.

The appeal is against a decision of the Ontario Farm Products Marketing Commission and, while no details are provided in the notice of appeal, it’s likely over jug packaging for the marketing of milk.

The commission has given the green light for a trial, but the commission wants all retailers, not just one, to be allowed to participate.

The Dairy Farmers of Ontario milk marketing board is opposed to the proposal because it believes milk consumption would decline if it’s offered in three-litre jugs instead of four-litre pouch packs.

JBS shifts to poultry

JBS of Brazil is shifting its growth strategy from beef to poultry.

Company president Wesley Batista said that’s because poultry is more likely than beef to on the increase.

He told stock-market analysts Friday that JBS will be focusing on poultry and processed foods for its growth, and less on its world-wide beef operations.

JBS is the world’s largest beef packer. In Canada it owns XL Foods Inc. in Alberta.

JBS has leased or bought eight companies involved in poultry in Brazil within the last 20 months.

Less than a month ago it bought Tyson’s poultry operations in Brazil and Mexico for $575 million.