Health committee  Yes, just very quickly, we have already used that to fast-track some things. For example, one of the things that we have fast-tracked is a new process that uses bacteriophage to treat meat. These bacteriophages can inactivate listeria on the surface of the meat; it's actually a p

Health committee  Thank you very much. In terms of our cross-training, for example, we have an evaluation division in our bureau and we have two or three sections. One, for example, would be a policy section; another would be a risk assessment section. What we've actually done is to train people

Health committee  As you know, we work very closely with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The outbreak of listeria, as you know, occurred in meats. We now have to take that one step further, because our Health Canada policy applies not only to meats but also to all foods sold in Canada, includ

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. Another important piece of the puzzle, as you realize, is the consumer. The consumer also has a role to play in food safety. Health Canada has come out with very sound advice to high-risk groups, because as you know, listeria really attacks, in the majori

Health committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. From Health Canada's standpoint, we've also been doing a number of things. We've been working on a new rapid method for listeria monocytogenes, which will very soon be validated. We're also working with the National Research Council on a unique tool--and

Health committee  Very briefly, I think another challenge would be, as we get better tools and techniques to better detect these organisms and better detect these outbreaks, which are very difficult to detect, we'll start seeing causes of outbreaks coming out. We'll find out what actual foods caus

Health committee  Thank you very much. In general, the directions that we'd like to give is actually to cook the meat to steaming hot, because as we've seen in a number of situations microwave heating is very uneven, so you may have several cold spots in the food that would not reach the tempera

Health committee  Yes. For example, we have a policy coming out soon on E. coli 0157 in ground beef because we know it's an issue, and listeria would never be an issue in ground beef. Thank you.

Health committee  In the area you mentioned of the ultra-high pressure, we're definitely in the lead. One of the companies I mentioned just spent over $2 million to install a state-of-the-art plant using ultra-high pressure.

Health committee  No, it doesn't.

Health committee  Thank you very much. I'll address your question related to listeria policy. It's a very good question. As I was mentioning before, listeria is a very unique organism. With respect to the policy we have in place, there are some things that would encompass the reduction of all b

Health committee  What some companies are doing at the end of the process--for example, with meats that are sliced and in bags--is actually put the meats into an ultra-high-pressure machine that generates very high pressures, at some 87,000 pounds per square inch, for three minutes. That high pres

Health committee  It's a very good question and point that you brought up. We have already had a number of these discussions, for example, with the Council of Chief Medical Officers of Health group that I'm working on concerning listeria education. Just to give you the one example of old age hom

Health committee  Thank you very much for the question. The two departments, CFIA and Health Canada, actually get involved. The vaccine you're talking about was produced by a Canadian company. What it does is reduce the shedding of E. coli in the feces. It is one tool that can be used in the over

Health committee  Yes, it's all, but the one I was specifically referring to was trend analysis. So, for example, you have to know what the baseline in your plant is.