April 1, 2011 Implementation of Health Canada’s Revised Policy on Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods

Health Canada’s Policy on Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-To-Eat Foods is an important tool used by industry and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to identify steps that can be taken to reduce the risk of Listeria monocytogenes contamination in all ready-to-eat foods.

As you know, the Policy was recently updated. The revised version will come into effect on April 1, 2011. It affects all ready-to-eat foods, including but not limited to meat, poultry, fish, fruits and vegetables, and dairy products.

• Policy on Listeria monocytogenes in Ready-to-Eat Foods

The CFIA will continue working with industry and other stakeholders to promote the new food safety practices detailed in the revised Policy.

The CFIA will also continue to verify compliance with regulatory requirements relating to Listeria monocytogenes in ready-to-eat foods. The CFIA takes a risk-based approach to compliance verification, and uses existing compliance verification procedures to assess whether industry is complying with applicable regulatory requirements.

The approach that the CFIA uses to verify compliance will vary by program, based on a range of factors, including:

• product risk,
• target population of the food product; and
• the compliance history of the operator

Any questions you have about the Policy itself should be addressed to Health Canada.

In the coming weeks, the CFIA will issue more detailed, program-specific information regarding compliance verification.

Karen McIntyre
Executive Director
Agrifood, Meat and Seafood Safety

CFIA John Lynch
Executive Director
Food Safety and Consumer Protection CFIA