Sludge Watch ==> Canada continues to refuse Salinas Valley Spinach to cross the border

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/plaveg/fresh/usaspine.shtml

Canada eases border restrictions on fresh spinach from the United States
Related Alerts: 2006-09-15 | 2006-09-15 | 2006-09-18
2006-10-30 - Canada eases border restrictions on fresh spinach from the 
United States



The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has eased the import restrictions 
put in place in September as a result of the outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7 
associated with fresh spinach. Imports of fresh spinach (including salad 
mixtures containing spinach) from the United States (U.S.) will now be 
allowed entry, with the exception of product grown in the San Benito and 
Monterey counties in California.


The Agency has taken a precautionary approach to protect Canadians from 
exposure to E. coli 0157:H7 and is confident that spinach grown outside of 
these counties does not represent a risk to Canadian consumers.
After the original detection of the outbreak, the CFIA promptly issued an 
advisory warning Canadians not to consume spinach from the U.S., a health 
hazard alert to identify the products for Canadian consumers and a recall of 
all affected products from California. As an additional precaution, the CFIA 
issued a border alert to prevent the entry of all imports of fresh spinach 
(including salad mixtures containing spinach) from the U.S. pending the 
outcome of the investigation of U.S. officials into the source of the 
outbreak.
In early October, the CFIA conducted an on-site visit in California to 
review the results of the U.S. investigation. To meet requirements 
stipulated by the CFIA, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) 
has implemented a new origin identification program to verify that product 
has not originated in the San Benito and Monterey counties. In addition, 
following the outbreak, the CFIA strengthened its import and domestic 
microbial sampling program for leafy greens.
U.S. exporters can only ship product to Canada if they officially declare 
that it was not grown in either of these Californian counties. A false 
declaration is punishable under the U.S. Perishable Agriculture Commodities 
Act. This origin verification program will remain in place until the end of 
the shipping season in these counties, toward the end of November 2006. 
Afterwards, U.S. spinach will be allowed entry into Canada without origin 
declarations.
The CFIA's border alert remains in place to verify that fresh spinach 
imports do not originate from the affected counties. The CFIA will continue 
to work with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) to review actions 
taken by industry to implement strong food safety measures, before it will 
consider imports from these areas when they resume production in 2007.
CFIA food safety experts have been working closely with their colleagues at 
the Public Health Agency of Canada, the USFDA and the U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention to monitor the outbreak and take corrective 
actions to address food safety concerns. The outbreak effectively ended at 
the beginning of October, when the last case was reported in the U.S.