New rules to prevent Salmonella now in effect in Canada

After several outbreaks of Salmonella in frozen breaded chicken nuggets in Canada, the industry is now (after 1 April) working under new regulations aimed at lowering the number of Salmonella cases and product recalls. As of March 22, 2019, there have been 566 laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella illness investigated as part of the illness outbreaks across the country: British Columbia (42), Alberta (84), Saskatchewan (18), Manitoba (27), Ontario (209), Quebec (115), New Brunswick (30), Nova Scotia (18), Prince Edward Island (6), Newfoundland and Labrador (12), Northwest Territories (2), Yukon (1), and Nunavut (2). There have been 95 individuals hospitalized as part of these outbreaks. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) created the new rule which includes fully cooking the products before offering them to the public and labeling the products as “cooked” and “ready-to-eat.” CFIA reported that Salmonella cases happened when people bought the raw frozen nuggets but failed to cook them to the proper temperature, CFIA worked with the poultry industry to develop measures on the production level beginning in the spring of 2018, while recalls and recall expansions of Salmonella-tainted chicken nuggets continued throughout 2018 and March of 2019.The new regulations should result in the reduction of Salmonella levels to below-detectable amounts. @ http://www.meatingplace.com/Industry/News/Details/84829