Rick Boyd is ready to charm customers atsuppliers night in Montreal.

lured by the free buffet, cash bar anda draw for a handsome attache caseand three bottles of quality wine. Mr.Henriat Sabourin, President of CIFST,was on hand to aid in the draw, presentthe President's message and to pro­mote the upcoming CIFST conferencein Quebec.Clearly, the event struck aresponsive chord with industry mem­bers, even beyond Quebec's bound­aries, with exhibitors coming in fromOntario and the U.S.A. Based onnumerous positive comments fromboth exhibitors and visitors, suppliersnight provides and idea forum for infor­mation exchange and an opportunity tomeet both new and old customers. It isexpected that this event will becomea fairly regular event in the activities ofthe Montreal section and the commit­tee thanks all the participants and exhi­bitors for attending and making it asuccess.

Henriot Sabourin draws for the attache case,held by Fred van de Voort.

94/ lA

NEWS FROMAGRICULTURE CANADA

Agriculture Canada's food inspectionprogram is putting greater emphasis onensuring that products are free ofchemical residues. There is a change inour approach to stay in step with theconsumers' needs. The biggest con­cern of the public right now seems tobe residues from drugs, pesticides orchemicals like PCB's.

The Department is doing more inten­sive testing for residues and bacteriawhile industry is taking more respon­sibility for visual inspection. Producersand processors are accepting theresponsibility for meeting standards ofcleanliness and sanitation. The depart­ment can continue to monitor that, andcan also use more of its resources interms of laboratories and inspectors tofocus more on microbiological quality.

Research is being done to find newdetection methods. For example, thedepartment is currently working in con­junction with the Ontario PorkProducers' Marketing Board on fieldtrials at the plant level to test for sulfadrugs in hogs. The Sulfa on Site(S.O.S.1 test can be done right at theplant.

Each year there is a greater ability todetect residues and increasingly minutelevels of contamination. The demandsof consumers and Canada's tradingpartners and the evolving technologiesare the main reasons why the pro­gram's priorities are constantly shift­ing. For further information contact: Or.lan Sutherland, Director, Program andPriority Planning, Food InspectionDirectorate in Ottawa or telephone613-992-2114.

Costs for raw materials labor andpackaging accelerated in 1988 for foodand beverage processors. This con­tributed to the first decline in foodprocessors' operating income in fiveyears.

Costs are expected to increase againin 1989, but at a slightly slower ratethan this year. The steady pace of salesgrowth is expected to continue nextyear which, combined with slowerrates of increases in costs, should help

improve operating incomes for foodprocessors in 1989.

Large investments in new equipmentand expanded facilities which occurredin 1988 should improve operating effi­ciency of food and beverage proces­sors. Steady growth in domestic salesand the expected implementation ofthe Free Trade Agreement with theU.S. are contributing factors forincreased levels of investment.

The food retailing sector shouldexpect increased sales and strongerdemand in 1989. A slight increase inconsumer spending is expected asmore value-added products becomeavailable. High operating costs willkeep profit increases moderate for foodretailers. For further information con­tact: Susan Sarich, Food Markets Anal­ysis Division, Agriculture Canada,Ottawa or telephone 613-995-5880.

Agriculture Canada's Meat andPoultry Products Division is looking forbetter methods to reduce salmonellaand E. coli bacteria in meat and poultry.Over the past four years, the depart­ment's testing for salmonella and otherbacteria has increased by 20 percentper year. Research is being conductedto find new detection methods and pro­grams are being implemented to reducethe incidence of bacteria in processingplants. The department has placedrenewed emphasis on allocating itsresources in the areas of highest risk.

A special review of the federal meatinspection program was done recentlyby a subcommittee of the QualityAssurance and Food Safety AdvisoryGroup. This advisory group is made upof representatives from Health andWelfare Canada, the provinces, theproducers, processors, consumergroups, public service unions andAgriculture Canada. In general, thesubcommittee concluded that thedepartment is ensuring that a whole­some meat supply is reaching theCanadian consumer. It also com­mended the division for helping tostamp out tuberculosis and brucellosisin cattle, saying that inspection proce­dures have eliminated the risk ofspreading the disease from animals tohumans. However, the subcommitteedid raise specific concerns related tosalmonella and E. coli bacteria.

The subcommittee used estimatesb.ased on Health and Welfare Canadastatistics to establish the cost of food­borne diseases in Canada which maybe associated with meat and meatproducts. The costs, included medical

J. InSI. Can. Sci. Technol. Aliment. Vo!. 22, No. 2, 1989