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CFC's On-Farm Food Safety Program

Canada's chicken farmers are proud to grow safe, quality chicken consumers can trust. This is why the CFIA's technical recognition of an on-farm food safety (OFFS) program for chicken is of such critical importance.

Chicken Farmers of Canada (CFC) has taken the leadership in this long-term project because it recognizes the determination of Canadian chicken farmers to prove the quality and the safety of their product.

CFC's on-farm food safety program, called Safe, Safer, Safest, (view pamphlet here) involves a food safety manual, audited on-farm practices, and recognition by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Safe, Safer Safest was first introduced to farmers in 1998. It was developed by farmers for farmers and respects Canadian regulatory requirements.

The program combines good production practices (GPP) and internationally recognized Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles into chicken production.

For instance, under Safe, Safer, Safest, after chickens have been shipped to the processing plant, farmers follow strict barn cleaning procedures. Before the next flock is delivered, water lines are cleaned and/or disinfected and barns are extremely well cleaned, including litter removal. The program also stipulates that the farms' water supplies must be analyzed regularly.

Stringent record keeping is an important component of on-farm food safety and allows Canadian chicken farmers to participate in quality control, traceability, and disease control.

An example: The flock sheet is a form used by farmers to record specific information about such things as feed, any medications used, number of birds placed, etc. A preliminary sheet is sent to the processor ahead of the flock shipment and the complete information is sent on a flock sheet with the shipment itself.

The flock sheet serves as the farmers' assurance to the other links in the food chain that the birds have been produced in accordance with the strictest government and industry guidelines and regulations.

CFC's program has been reviewed by the CFIA for technical soundness from a food safety perspective. The technical review assesses the on-farm food safety program's adherence to HACCP principles and GPPs that promote the production of safe food.

The next step for Canadian chicken farmers involves the full implementation of the Safe, Safer, Safest program on farms across Canada. This step involves further training for farmers, auditors and all personnel involved with the OFFS program. In addition, CFC along with provincial boards will be developing an on-farm audit system that complies with CFIA and provincially accepted standards.

Once implemented, farmers will undergo a full program audit once every three years and a partial audit will be performed in the intervening years. The audits will be conducted by professionals trained in HACCP principles, on-farm food safety and auditing techniques. After passing the initial audit, farmers will apply for certification that includes adhering to the audit schedule and continuing to carry out the OFFS program.

After the audit system has been developed and farms are being audited, the Safe, Safer, Safest program will undergo a third party audit by an accredited auditing firm. This audit will ensure that CFC's food safety program is being implemented in accordance with all regulations and guidelines. CFC will then be able to apply for full program recognition from CFIA.

The CFC board of directors has moved that the program become mandatory once the audit and certification processes are in place in each of the provinces. Alberta was the first province to make the program mandatory followed by British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan. As a result, over 85% of current farms are audited Canada-wide. Of those farms, 81.5% are certified.

Within the entire program, top-notch safety procedures and standardized safety systems will be found on each Canadian farm. This will ensure that Canadian chicken farmers continue to produce safe and high quality product, as they have been doing for generations.

On-Farm Food Safety Assurance Program pamphlet (pdf)
 

Chicken Farmers of Canada: 350 Sparks Street, Suite 1007, Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7S8 Tel: (613) 241-2800 Fax: (613) 241-5999 Email: cfc@chicken.ca