Health and Safety

By the Book

Find out how food producers keep your food hazard-free, all the way from farm to fork

Story By Lisa Ostrowski

Your mother warned you to wash veggies in soapy water and rinse them well before you eat them. And you know to avoid cross-contamination by keeping separate cutting boards for meats and vegetables and washing utensils and hands thoroughly before and after handling food. But what about processed foods that you can’t wash, like ice cream? And how about packaged veggies, such as frozen peas? Alberta suppliers strive to provide the safest products for consumption.

Food processors in Alberta are paying attention to food safety, and it’s a complicated process. A package of frozen peas starts as a crop in a farmer’s field, before it finds its way to the loading bay of a processing facility, such as Lucerne. Lucerne buys huge quantities of peas from more than 35 farmers in Alberta and packages them under the Safeway Select product line. (You may have a package in your freezer now.)

At the facility, peas are shelled, packaged, frozen and shipped to stores. By the time they reach the grocers’ fridge, they’ve passed hundreds of stringent safety tests.

Organizations such as Safeway are large enough that they actually own some fields and contract them to local growers. Catherine Larvin, Manager Quality and Auditing for Canada Safeway, says processors want to ensure safety from the beginning. It’s easier to prevent little problems than it is to deal with large-scale problems after the fact. By asserting strict guidelines, processing companies eliminate most threats to food safety. Safeway chooses local growers to produce many products. “These suppliers are selected for consistent quality and safety,” Larvin explains. Other factors that govern supplier selection include affordability and the amount that can be supplied.

“From shelling peas, blanching, freezing and packaging, the producer has to decide if there are any associated hazards, whether biological, physical or chemical,” says Dr. Laura Weir, a program specialist with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). “Could a piece of equipment fall into the peas that would break someone’s tooth? Or was there a pesticide used that has been flagged as potentially harmful?”

Large Alberta food processors, such as Lucerne, are heavily involved in production, managing hundreds of details to ensure that the process is controlled and safe. Peas are a big seller, but the process gets even more complex when it comes to an equally common item: ice cream. Look in your freezer, right beside the peas.

A facility must be audited for the quality of its food safety systems. The audit, Weir explains, is based around the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) program, which Safeway is working towards implementing in all its processing facilities, including the Lucerne facility. 

“With HACCP, you look at every step of manufacturing food, from the moment you get the product into the plant,” says Weir.

For ice cream, the process is more complex than it is for peas. The Lucerne facility buys its milk from 77 Alberta farmers. The milk has to be pasteurized to kill the bacteria. Employees have to sanitize the lines, then rinse them to eliminate any chemical residue. They have to keep detailed records of every step.

“There needs to be a record that the employee is pasteurizing properly,” Weir says. “Then someone else needs to monitor it by taking samples of the milk to verify it.” Refrigerator temperatures are checked and recorded.

A HACCP-certified producer is subject to internal audits and audits by the CFIA. If a manufacturer fails to fix a problem flagged in audit, the CFIA issues a corrective action request with a deadline for resolution. If unresolved, a processor would lose its ability to operate under HACCP.

Weir says that fish and meat producers in Canada who are federally inspected - usually because they sell interprovincially or internationally - are required to be certified in the HACCP program. However, many other processors, such as Lucerne, are working towards certification due to the recognition that such a program provides.

HACCP includes myriad guidelines that govern everything from a facility’s physical structure to its equipment. For example, there cannot be any holes in the walls that might would allow pests in; equipment must be calibrated properly; personnel must receive training in sanitization techniques; and food, such as the milk used to make the ice cream, must be kept in the correct storage container at the proper temperature.

Plant managers and coordinators have experience in the food industry and several industry training courses under their belts. “The personnel must be trained in their respective jobs,” Weir says. “Producers must also have a health program so that people who are sick aren’t working around food.”

Staff goes through review training annually, re-examining many aspects of safe food handling, including allergen control and sanitation. In order to remain a supplier for Safeway, Larvin says that “a supplier must continually improve.” Also subject to internal audits, processing facilities are often audited by the CFIA or by third party audit companies.

After leaving the processing plant, the food remains under plant responsibility until it reaches the grocer’s warehouse. The facility’s staff ensures food is transported without dangerous changes in temperature or exposure to harmful substances. Frequent vehicle inspections guarantee a product can be delivered to stores safely. If the food appears to have been transported in an unsafe manner, it will be rejected at the warehouse. “Only acceptable products will be received to the warehouse and distributed by Safeway stores,” says Larvin.

Regardless of where in the world they’re located, suppliers are required to meet the safety regulations provided by the CFIA before they can be sold in Canada. And though HACCP and CFIA guidelines are used nationwide, Alberta producers have consistently been able to meet high safety standards. This is an impressive feat, one that ensures the longevity of farming in Alberta.