Canadian Food Inspection Agency: The Food Safety Action Plan (FSAP)
… Building on the present/Strengthening the future

Safe Food for Canadian Families. Our priority

Regardless of what food you eat or where you buy your groceries, you want to know that the food you and your family consume every day is safe. The Government of Canada wants the same thing. The health and safety of all Canadians is our top priority.

That’s why the federal government launched the Food and Consumer Safety Action Plan (FCSAP) in December 2007.  The plan recognizes that product safety is in everyone’s interest and that everyone – industry, government and Canadians – has a role to play. The FCSAP encompasses a series of initiatives to modernize and strengthen Canada’s safety system for food, health and consumer products.

Food Safety in Action

The food component of the FCSAP is led by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). 

Canada’s food safety system is already one of the best in the world. The CFIA’s food safety action plan aims to modernize and strengthen the food safety system through the following activities:

  • provide the food industry with additional guidance to assist them in improving food safety throughout their supply chains;
  • improve oversight of imported food by making importers responsible for the safety of foods they bring into Canada;
  • conduct chemical residue and microbiological surveys to gather baseline data about potential food safety hazards, or in response to a specific situation; and
  • make it easier for Canadians to access up-to-date food safety information, including food recall and allergy alert information.

Four federal government organizations have shared responsibility for putting the food safety plans into action

CFIA’s Approach

The CFIA has been working on a number of initiatives including the following:

  • Proposed regulations designed to enhance the oversight of imported food products in the non-federally registered sector (NFRS). These regulations will introduce a food importer licensing regime, requiring importers to implement and maintain a written Preventive Food Safety Control Plan;
  • Increased oversight of food imports by conducting border inspections and enhanced imported product tracking;
  • Chemical residue and microbiological surveys of specific domestic and imported foods. Finalized survey reports are posted on the CFIA website to provide meaningful food safety information to the public;
  • The Guide to Food Safety and the General Principles of Food Hygiene, Composition and Labelling were developed through stakeholder consultation and posted on the CFIA website. They provide guidance and support to industry for the development and implementation of food safety control measures;
  • Information to consumers and industry on the use of Product of Canada and Made in Canada;
  • A number of consumer-oriented communication products have been developed, posted to the CFIA website and distributed to consumers to inform them of potential food safety risks and how to avoid them; and
  • Increased awareness of food recalls through increased subscriber notifications on Class 2 & 3 undeclared allergen recalls.