Safety Controls

Setting high standards for seafood safety

Canada’s food safety system is recognized as one of the best in the world. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency partners with Health Canada to not only set the highest standards of food safety but to ensure these standards are met.

Working together

Health Canada sets the standards for the safety of fish and seafood, including limits for chemical residues and toxins. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency enforces these standards by inspecting processing plants and analyzing the fish and shellfish for contaminants and toxins.

Health Canada’s Role:

• Sets the standards and policies for the safety and nutritional quality of fish and seafood
• Sets limits for:
  • Chemical residues
  • Environmental and industrial pollutants
  • Naturally occurring toxins
• To learn more, visit Health Canada’s Food Safety Web Site.

Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Role:

• Conducts rigorous inspections of processing establishments across Canada
• Inspects equipment used for handling, transporting and storing seafood
• Analyzes samples for impurities, drug residues or disease-causing agents
• To learn more, visit Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s Fish & Seafood Web Site.

Checks and balances: The Quality Management Program

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency not only regularly inspects these plants and the seafood being processed, but also requires the plants to develop and implement a Quality Management Program.

Canada’s Quality Management Program is based on the internationally recognized principles of the “Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point” (HACCP). Potential hazards to food safety are identified in advance and controls are put in place to eliminate or reduce these hazards. Rather than simply relying on end product testing, the safety of fish and seafood is enhanced by pre-planning and numerous checks and balances throughout the production chain.

Canada pioneered the use of HACCP in seafood inspection protocols. This method of hazard analysis and prevention has now been adopted by many countries around the world, including the United States, our major seafood trading partner.

Quality Management Program plans:

Detailed plans must be implemented to ensure the safety of fish and seafood.

These plans include key safety controls such as:

• Process flow diagrams documenting each step in the processing of fish and shellfish
• Floor plans that highlight sanitary areas and restricted zones and additional controls
• Product listings including raw materials, end use, shelf life, labeling requirements, and more
• Rapid tracking systems should a product be recalled
• Sanitation and personnel hygiene controls
• And more: Quality Management Program

Learn more:

• Fish and Seafood (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)
• Quality Management Program (Canadian Food Inspection Agency)
• Food Safety (Health Canada)
• Chemical Contaminants (Health Canada)
• Fact Sheet: Benefits and Risks of Consuming Fish and Shellfish