Report on Industry Government Workshop on Mandatory Labelling of Raw Meat and Poultry Products with Safe Preparation/Handling/Cooking Messages

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Consultation with Stakeholders
January 27, 2004
14th Floor Place Bell Canada
160 Elgin St., Ottawa

As part of its on-going commitments to improve the safety of meat and poultry, Health Canada convened a meeting of interested stakeholders in Ottawa on January 27, 2004 on the labelling of raw meat and poultry products with safe preparation, handling and cooking messages.

The meeting objectives were:

• For Health Canada to share its ideas to address safe handling of raw meat and poultry, with particular emphasis on regulatory formats; and
• To hear stakeholder comments on current proposals and other ideas that may surface during the meeting.

Representatives from meat and poultry producers and retailers, both associations and individual firms, as well as public interest advocates were invited to attend the meeting. In addition to representatives from Health Canada, representatives from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) also attended.

The following presentations were made in the first part of the morning:

• Welcome and Introduction: Paul Mayers, A/Director General, Food Directorate, Health Canada
• Labelling as a Public Health Tool: Simon Ginsberg, Regulatory Policy Officer, Bureau of Food Policy Integration, Health Canada
• Meat labelling. The experience of one grocer: Joe Gariup, JLG Consulting
• The world of regulation-making and regulatory options: Ian Hornby, Brattle Street Round Table
• Communications Plans and Labels - How can we improve on the Status Quo?: Jeff Farber, Director, Bureau of Microbial Hazards, Health Canada

The presentations were followed by a discussion in which participants were asked to pose any questions or concerns they had. A good number of stakeholders were present from the retail, processing and production sectors of the industry and participated in the discussion.

• Industry stakeholders expressed concerns about two epidemiological studies and whether food was the true source of the reported outbreaks.
• They also wanted information about the effectiveness of the
  Fight BAC!® campaign.
• They expressed concern about the consistency of the temperature message for beef burgers and the need for a Health Canada recommended temperature for cooking poultry parts and ground meat.
• They expressed concern that the placement of a label would interfere with the ability to see and sell the product.
• They also felt that consumers need additional information/education on how to properly cook meat and poultry products.
• Health Canada expressed concern that British Columbia had implicated chicken fingers, chicken nuggets, and chicken strips in a recent Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak. Inadequate cooking instructions, package size, and unsafe handling practices were identified as possible causes.

In general, the discussion centered on a number of issues. For example, mention was made of the fact that the actual cause of many foodborne outbreaks in Canada is still unclear and that other products besides meat and poultry are frequently linked to illness as well. Some participants felt that communication and education campaigns were more effective and questioned the effectiveness of a labelling campaign that would target all meat and poultry products. They expressed the opinion that labelling should be based on a clearly demonstrated risk. Some wanted to know whether the Fight BAC!® campaign has been effective in changing consumers' behaviour. Some discussion also took place around the use of thermometers, i.e., when to use them and how to properly use them. Although there was no clear consensus on the need to label all meat and poultry products, it was agreed that all ground product should be labelled. The topic of cost also came up, and industry representatives expressed some concerns about the start-up costs needed for labelling product. In terms of the label, it was felt that flexibility, message consistency, possible overlap with new labelling requirements in the CFIA's mandatory HACCP proposals, as well as label placement and size, were all issues that needed to be addressed. It was mentioned that products should be labelled if there is evidence of a risk based on science, and that not all products needed to be labelled.

In conclusion, stakeholders at the meeting generally agreed with the following:

• All raw ground meats and raw ground poultry should be labelled with safe handling and cooking instructions.
• Health Canada should coordinate its proposal for safe handling labels with the amendments proposed by CFIA to the Meat Inspection Regulations, particularly as it applies to labelling requirements for raw processed product that has a cooked appearance; and
• Education and communication plans were the best means to address health issues related to the safe handling of meat and poultry and need to accompany a labelling initiative. Industry representatives made various suggestions and/or commitments as to how they would or could communicate the necessary messages.

As a result of this meeting, Health Canada is now assessing the merit of employing various policy instrument alternatives. Stakeholders will be kept informed and their concerns will be taken into consideration, as we move forward on this safe food handling labelling initiative.