21.jun.07
The Record (Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge, Ontario)
The discovery of toothpaste containing poisonous diethylene glycol on store shelves in Guelph and elsewhere, on the heels of the tainted pet-food scare that killed dozens of pets across North America this spring, is, according to this editorial, a sober reminder for all consumers.
Canada enjoys a highly regulated and efficient food inspection system and, as a result, Canadians can be secure that the food they serve on their table is, by and large, quite safe.
But the growing number of instances of problems with food and drugs produced elsewhere is enough to make a consumer quite nervous: U.S. food inspectors in recent months have rejected shipments from China of such hair-raising items as mushrooms laced with illegal pesticides, dried apples preserved in a cancer-causing chemical and meat (which China is not permitted to export to the United States), illegally labelled as dried prunes.
Food inspectors are doing the best they can, but they can't examine every container-load of food that makes its way across our border. Consumers should not sit back and be complacent, but take responsibility for their own food security, by determining a food's origins, reading labels carefully and avoiding any that look suspicious, such as the packages of tainted toothpaste which didn't feature both official languages, as required on all packages sold in Canada, and did include bizarre spelling errors.
And with the warm days of June upon us, perhaps we can take another small step toward food safety, by buying locally grown produce. Farmers' markets abound at this time of year with foods that have not been shipped from afar. Consumers benefit with the unmatched freshness and quality of locally grown food, and also support business and families in our community (confusing quality and safety -- dp)
Ottawa must step up pressure on the most notorious offenders, such as China, to improve internal controls and cut down on the corruption that turns a blind eye to unsafe practices.
