Equipment problems has led to a grading registration suspension for an eastern Ontario farm operation

Friday, July 12, 2013

by SUSAN MANN

John and Cora Beking are having eggs graded at another registered facility while they sort out their farm’s grading equipment problems after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency suspended their registration.

CFIA announced on its website Tuesday it suspended the registration of Bekings Poultry Farm in eastern Ontario because the “operator was not meeting the standards for the Canada Grade A as stated in the egg regulations.” There isn’t a food recall associated with the suspension.

Regulations in place to protect consumers require that eggs from federally registered egg grading stations graded Canada Grade A must be clean and free from leaks, cracks or other defects that could present food safety problems, says the egg grading section of CFIA’s website.

CFIA inspects all registered egg grading stations to ensure proper sanitation and operating requirements are being met.

At the Bekings’ Oxford Station farm, CFIA consistently discovered “a large number of cracks in eggs,” the notice says.

CFIA spokesperson Lisa Murphy says by email the agency cannot disclose specific details about how many cracked eggs inspectors were finding on the farm and over what time frame. “In general, when deficiencies are identified an increased frequency of inspection of an establishment is implemented,” she says.

Bekings Poultry Farm has been federally registered since 1993, Murphy says. There are 62 federally registered shell egg facilities in Ontario.

“We’ve graded and marketed eggs on this farm for 50 years,” says John Beking. They’ve had problems with their egg grading/packing and other equipment since last fall. “It’s taking longer than I thought it would to correct the equipment,” he notes.

Beking says there are too many cracks coming through the system. “We are addressing this situation.”

The Bekings sell their eggs to retail stores in Ottawa and John estimates they produce about two million eggs annually. The suspension hasn’t impacted their supplying customers as their retailers are still getting graded eggs, but it has led to increased costs from having to get eggs graded at another facility.

They have 14,000 hens in loose housing and birds in one of their three flocks haven’t been able to get good shells on their eggs. They’re having problems in just one of their two barns.

“When you have equipment where the timing isn’t right, the eggs get jolted around too much and you end up with too many cracks,” he says.

Part of the problem with the equipment is it comes from Brazil and it takes a fair amount of work to know what’s going on with it. Beking says he’s talking to other graders to help them.

He’s also consulting with the equipment manufacturer. But maintenance on the equipment, which is eight years old, is difficult because there isn’t a service technician in North America for that machine, he notes. “To get a service technician from Brazil to come and service the machine is not something that just happens.”

Murphy says in her email to get the suspension lifted the Bekings must fully implement the necessary corrective actions noted by CFIA and the agency has to be confident the required standards can be consistently maintained.

Beking say they’re using the equipment to gather the eggs and “when we see that we are comfortable with what comes out at the other end, then we will apply to have them (CFIA) audit and look at it again.”

They don’t know when they’ll be back grading at their own facility again but Beking says it may be by August. BF