Note: The CFIA veterinarians being replaced by slaughter house staff were
also responsible for animal welfare at the slaughter house.

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http://www.thestar.com/article/623695

Poultry screening by employees endangers public, vet says

Apr 24, 2009

Robert Cribb
Staff Reporter, Toronto Star

A senior federal veterinarian says Canada's food safety agency is
compromising public health by putting slaughterhouse workers in charge of
deciding when poultry is too diseased or contaminated for human consumption.

In an affidavit filed in federal court, Dr. Valerie Coupal alleges her
employer, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), has dismantled a
crucial element of food safety oversight by shifting responsibilities for
poultry inspection from professional veterinarians to unqualified meat
plant workers.

"This practice raises substantial concerns for public health," she writes
in the document that forms part of a judicial review application by the
Professional Institute of the Public Service, a union representing 611
federal veterinarians and other professional federal employees.

The union's notice of application filed in federal court says changes to
the country's inspection system – dubbed the "poultry rejection program" –
are "contrary to the public interest" because they replace qualified
veterinarians with unqualified people who are "not subject to public scrutiny."

It seeks a review by a federal judge to determine whether the new policy is
in breach of current meat inspection regulations.

The CFIA has until the end of the month to file its response. Tim O'Connor,
a CFIA spokesperson, said the agency does not comment on matters before the
court.

Meat plant employees are not properly trained to detect poultry carcasses
unfit for human consumption, says Coupal's affidavit.

"Veterinary training includes in-depth knowledge of animal pharmacology,
pathology, microbiology, virology and pathogeny. This knowledge makes it
possible to ascertain a herd's general health, which may lead to carcass
condemnation," the 19-year federal veterinarian writes in her affidavit.

By contrast, meat plant workers assigned to "reject" potentially dangerous
poultry are trained for four weeks at the most, she writes.

The new protocols are already in place in several slaughterhouses with
plans for a national rollout.

Citing a 2003 incident at the Quebec plant where she is veterinarian in
charge, Coupal said she stopped the slaughter of poultry because the birds
were smaller than normal and "abnormal in colour," she wrote.

Plant employees had approved the birds for slaughter.

Testing showed the birds were unfit for human consumption and displayed
muscle damage, possibly caused by an overdose of drugs used to control
parasites.