By Dori Modney with files from the CFIA

CFIA looks at technology to improve food safety as well as animal and plant health

May 21, 2021 | 7:22 PM

OTTAWA, ONT. : As consumers, we rely on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) to ensure the food we eat is pest and bacteria free and that includes ensuring imported products don’t introduce unwanted pests into pests into the Canadian eco-system.

Over the decades, much of the scrutiny has relied on visual inspection and sniffer dogs. However, the challenges have increased over the decades and the CFIA is looking to improved methods of inspection and is going high-tech.

The CFIA has launched challenges through the Innovative Solutions Canada Program, that will improve the health of Canadians, as well as plants and animals. The challenges include:

— developing a handheld device that detects food borne pathogens throughout the farm-to-fork continuum.

— developing a system that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to help specialists determine which vaccination strain would be most successful at preventing and controlling field outbreaks of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in livestock (cattle, sheep and swine).

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— creating a phytosanitary treatment for the control of quarantine plant pests that could destroy our forests or food crops.

To accomplish these efforts, the CFIA has announced several companies will receive funding to develop the innovative concepts.

— Precision Biomonitoring, in Guelph, Ontario, will recieve roughly $150,000 to develop a handheld device to detect bacterial foodborne hazards.

— Shaddari Inc., in Montreal, has been granted $100,000 to develop a computer model that could support vaccine matching technology for FMD in Canada.

— HPP West Coast Facility, in Port Coquitlam, B.C., will receive about $150,000 to develop a high pressure processing (HPP) technology, which could safely control plant pests that are regulated and/or of quarantine significance in Canada, to support industry in exporting products to international markets.

All of the technology being developed has, in turn, the potential to mitigate problems not only in Canada, but to also be of benefit to other agrarian countries around the world.

Dr William Anderson, Chief Plant Health Officer for Canada, notes that protecting Canada’s plant resources helps maintain food security and environmental sustainability, while supporting continued economic growth.

“The CFIA is excited about the potential of high pressure processing, an innovative concept for managing the risk associated with quarantine pests. If successful, this innovation could provide a more effective option to control plant pests of concern to Canada, including those that spread via trade pathways such as cargo and containers.”

Health Minister Patty Hajdu, points out that while looking for innovative solutions, the CFIA is supporting Canadian-made innovation.

“We’re partnering with these trailblazers to find innovative ways to protect Canadians, by quickly detecting food borne pathogens, develop new technologies, and keeping our food supply safe.”

Read more at these related links:

— Innovative Solutions Canada

— Foot-and-mouth disease vaccine matching

— Detection of food borne pathogenic bacteria using field deployable instruments

— Phytosanitary treatment options for control of quarantine plant pests

— Canadian Innovation Week