Gourmet pet food company defends imported products
Peter O’Neil, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, May 11, 2007
OTTAWA - Despite serious misgivings about the credibility of China’s veterinary system, the federal government gave approval earlier this year to let a Canadian company import “gourmet” pet food from two Chinese plants that produce food only for human consumption.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, while reserving judgment on China’s overall system for approving the slaughter and sale of animals, concluded after inspections last fall that the two plants met Canadian standards, a CFIA official said this week.
The CFIA “release assessment” concludes that the risks posed by the various agents would be negligible “assuming no re-contamination of the finished product” after the heat treatment.
CFIA spokesman Paul Mayers told CanWest News Service the agency’s inspectors visited two plants supplying pet food and snacks to the Ontario company, Tri-Natural Products Inc.
“On the basis of the risk assessment, as well as the corrective actions that stemmed from our inspection having been completed, we were in a position to issue an import permit” to Tri-Natural, Mayers said.
He said the 2006 report should not be considered alarmist even though it raised the possibility the plant’s products could be tainted by a number of potentially dangerous viruses and bacteria.
“This is not alarmist. It’s thorough risk assessment.”
Tri-Natural President Doug Boucher said he’s not overly concerned about the current “hysteria” over the China link to the pet food scare impacting sales when his gourmet pet food hits Canadian stores in the summer.
“There’s a lot of fear-mongering and, you know, racism going on,” he said, stressing that the companies he’s dealing with are credible and well-regulated firms with state-sanctioned export permits.
http://www.canada.com/national.....mp;k=73283
Risk assessment AGAIN..crap!!
Peter O’Neil, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, May 11, 2007
OTTAWA - Despite serious misgivings about the credibility of China’s veterinary system, the federal government gave approval earlier this year to let a Canadian company import “gourmet” pet food from two Chinese plants that produce food only for human consumption.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, while reserving judgment on China’s overall system for approving the slaughter and sale of animals, concluded after inspections last fall that the two plants met Canadian standards, a CFIA official said this week.
The CFIA “release assessment” concludes that the risks posed by the various agents would be negligible “assuming no re-contamination of the finished product” after the heat treatment.
CFIA spokesman Paul Mayers told CanWest News Service the agency’s inspectors visited two plants supplying pet food and snacks to the Ontario company, Tri-Natural Products Inc.
“On the basis of the risk assessment, as well as the corrective actions that stemmed from our inspection having been completed, we were in a position to issue an import permit” to Tri-Natural, Mayers said.
He said the 2006 report should not be considered alarmist even though it raised the possibility the plant’s products could be tainted by a number of potentially dangerous viruses and bacteria.
“This is not alarmist. It’s thorough risk assessment.”
Tri-Natural President Doug Boucher said he’s not overly concerned about the current “hysteria” over the China link to the pet food scare impacting sales when his gourmet pet food hits Canadian stores in the summer.
“There’s a lot of fear-mongering and, you know, racism going on,” he said, stressing that the companies he’s dealing with are credible and well-regulated firms with state-sanctioned export permits.
http://www.canada.com/national.....mp;k=73283
Risk assessment AGAIN..crap!!