B.C. to take charge at some slaughterhouses, develops own safeguards

VERNON, B.C. – B.C. is taking over meat-inspection services from the federal government at slaughterhouses that process meat for the retail market.

The new system takes over from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency next Jan. 1 and will maintain the current standards while introducing new programs.

The changes will require all B.C. outlets that slaughter meat for retail to develop written food-safety procedures, create an audit program, train inspectors to provincial standards and maintain government stamps on inspected products.

The Agriculture Ministry says it has budgeted $5.6 million a year to develop and maintain the system.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will continue to monitor the 11 federally registered slaughterhouses in the province.

An E.coli contamination in beef at the XL Foods plant in Alberta last fall sickened 18 people and set off a federal government review of the circumstances around the outbreak.