Watch above: With the announcement of a food industry development centre comes assurances Canadian food is safe. Amber Rockliffe finds out the messaging surrounding beef in particular.
SASKATOON – Now that South Korea has suspended beef imports from Canada following the latest BSE case, Saskatchewan agriculture and food production groups say they’re doing all they can to make sure they’re not on shaky ground with other trading partners. Saskatchewan produces more than $1.2 billion worth of beef annually, making it the second-largest provincial producer in Canada.
Chad Fleck, president of the Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership, said he’s working with the federal government to reassure Saskatchewan’s biggest trading partners – such as the U.S. and Japan – our beef is safe.
“I know in Japan, the appetite for Canadian beef is tremendous,” Fleck said.
“They are a strongly science-based, decision-making culture in terms of their food safety decisions. So I’m reasonably confident that we will not run into the same road block in Japan,” he explained.
The organization continues to reassure trading partners the BSE infection is contained, and has not reached human food or animal feed systems.
READ MORE: CFIA says Alberta mad cow born two years after feed ban
“The federal government’s got this under control,” said Paul Rogers, president of the Sask. Food and Ingredient Processors Association.
“The monitoring program is working as it’s supposed to. We all knew we were going to get these odd little incidents over the years,” Rogers said.
In a visit to Saskatoon Friday, federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz said he’s working hard to end South Korea’s suspension.
“It’s about one and a quarter per cent of our overall beef and beef cut market, having said that, it’s still a valuable market – we’re growing it – they bring in about $1.5 billion a year so we know there’s room to expand,” Ritz said.
READ MORE: Mad cow disease confirmed in Alberta; first Canadian case since 2011
Ritz explained Canada’s Ministry of Agriculture has filled out a questionnaire on the case submitted by the South Korean government and expects to hear back within the next week.
The disease devastated Saskatchewan cattle farmers in 2003 and the industry has worked hard to rebound ever since, only really recovering in recent years.
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