Questionable meat
What would a NAFTA-free Canada look like?
Canada's Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz (R) answers questions regarding the E. Coli outbreak in Canada, during a news conference at the CFIA Laboratory in Calgary, Alberta, October 3, 2012.
Credits: REUTERS/TODD KOROL
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency will be evaluated by US authorities later this month, a spokesman said.
Guy Gravel, spokesman for the CFIA, said Friday that the assessment is routine and not related to the E. coli outbreak at Alberta's XL Foods that has sickened 13 people in Canada.
"This is nothing new. We also do this with their own procedures, as well as with other countries," Gravel said.
He said the US Food Safety and Inspection Service hasn't evaluated the CFIA since 2009, and officials south of the border had notified them months ago of their intentions.
"It is by chance that they are coming here during the (XL Foods) recall," Gravel said.
