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Stiffer standards for provincial packers on the way Grocers and the independent meat packers association are applauding the higher standards. Farmers might benefit down the road by DON STONEMAN He never used the Aylmer word, and that may be why Agriculture Minister Steve Peters's announcement of stronger standards for meat safety got little media play back in February. Peters announced the new meat standards to the media while dodging shoppers in Pusatari's, one of Toronto's most upscale grocery stores, where "lean ground beef" sells for $4.29 a pound. The same day that the Food safety and Quality Act of 2001 was proclaimed in the nearby provincial Legislature. New regulations take effect in the largest provincially inspected plants in June, and in smaller plants in October of 2005. In effect, provincial meat plant standards will be equivalent to federally inspected plant standards. This is good for the grocery industry, which can make better use of provincially inspected meat, says John Scott, president of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers. Its members include franchises of the big three chains. Some retailers require that meat be federally inspected if it is to go onto their shelves and in their meat cases. The equivalent standards allows for provincially inspected plants to be suppliers to these chains as well. The minister announced that $25 million in provincial monies over three years would be aimed at licensing and inspecting freestanding meat processors, strengthening processing controls and training food handlers. For Laurie Nicol, executive director of the Ontario Independent Meat Processors, the new standards are also good news, although few details were available when the program was announced. "I assume that part of it will be for education and training," she says. The meat processors association wants to see mandatory food handler training for all workers involved in the food industry, she said. Nicol says that there are now 110 plants that belong to the independent meat packers association. Some of them are federally inspected. Membership in the association is voluntary, but the new provincial initiative is likely to bring more of them under the association's auspices, she says. It is also likely to bring more processors under the province's jurisdiction. Nicol says that in 2001 the ministry conducted an inventory of meat processing plants in Ontario and found that there were 690 plants that governed under the local boards of health and food premises regulations rather than under the provincial meat inspection act. These will all be brought under the enhanced provincial regulations by October of 2006. "We will be working with the government to make sure that the regulations are achievable and affordable and reasonable," Nicol said. Will the changes be affordable for the smallest plants? Better Farming asked. "I believe so," she replied. The association will help processors to achieve the documentation standards that are necessary. Many small plants have an issue with documentation and not the quality of equipment and buildings, she says. Whether these changes will help producers in questionable. Dave Stewart, executive director of the Ontario Cattlemen's Association, says a leveling of federal and provincial standards might allow the highly-successful, but small, Ontario Corn Fed Beef program, which offers producers a premium, to move beef outside of Ontario. Currently, according to the Ontario Corn Fed Beef Web site, cattle for this program are processed at four federally inspected plants in Toronto. West Grey Premium Beef Packers south of Owen Sound and Norwich Packers are the only provincially inspected plants approved to process Ontario Corn Fed Beef. Why didn't Peters mention Aylmer to the few largely disinterested urban reporters in Pusatari's in February? In the wake of a tainted meat scandal at Aylmer Meat Packers in late summer of 2003, Justice Roland Haines was charged by the Premier with investigating meat regulations and inspections in Ontario. His report, released last July, was cited in minister Peter's news release about the new meat safety standards. The Aylmer Meat Packers case is before the courts and as a Minister of the Crown "I can't discuss it," Peters told Better Farming and, as a Minister of the Crown "I can't discuss it."BF © copyright 2005AgMedia Inc.. top back