CFIA Safe for Canadians ACT

Canadian Food Inspection agency is the Federal regulatory body regulates the food products manufactured and distributed for consumption in Canada. CFIA is responsible to enforce the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Safe Food for Canadians Regulations.

The Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA) is a new food ACT of Canada in which they have consolidated 14 existing regulations into one Safe Food for Canadians Regulations to improve consistency of rules, to reduce administrative burden and to enable food businesses to be innovative through outcome based provisions.

SFCA came into force on January 15, 2019, which required the most food companies in Canada to comply with Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR).

The Act required SFCR to add three fundamental new elements to implement in order to sell food in Canada i.e., licensing, preventive controls, and traceability requirements in the food businesses for food safety.

The term licensing is a new requirement in food regulations of Canada. Previously for certain high risk categories like meat, poultry, eggs, dairy, there was a food facility registration require. Now with the new SFCA requirements, ALL food businesses are required to have a license particularly to the activities undertaken in the facility such as importing, exporting, manufacturing. The licenses enables the CFIA to authorize persons to conduct certain activities such as identifying food businesses, collect information about the activities of food businesses and take responsive action when non-compliant activities are found.

CFIA expects a food business that is subject to the SFCR has a responsibility of ensuring the food prepared domestically, imported, or exported is safe and meets the regulatory requirements and also ensuring the food is of a nature, substance and quality that complies with the compositional and grade requirements. For the consumer confidence on the food, the product label, advertising, and presentation is not false or misleading and meets the regulatory requirements.

Watch this on-demand webinar with Ranjeet Klair, Food Safety Expert with SAI Assurance, to learn more.