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Appendix 2 – Red Meat Slaughter PCI Operational Guidance

Note: In order to demonstrate compliance with Safe Foods for Canadians Regulations (SFCR), licence holders could follow the interpretive guidelines and industry guidance. This guidance document summarizes the expected performance criteria available in slaughter interpretive guidelines and industry guidance.

If the licence holder does not follow the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) guidance mentioned below and presents a different means of meeting SFCR requirements, the inspection team should consult with CFIA specialists to verify the validity of the approach.

As per SFCR 47, all licence holders are required to identify and analyse hazards and prevent, eliminate or reduce the identified hazards to an acceptable level using control measures shown by evidence to be effective.

Under SFCR, licence holders who slaughters animals are required to have a written preventive control plan (PCP) in place.

The purpose of this document is to provide guidance to CFIA inspection staff on Preventive Control Inspection (PCI) procedures related to verifying that the operator/ licence holder meets the regulatory requirements related to slaughter of red meat animals.

In addition, the licence holder must meet all the applicable provisions of the Safe Food for Canadians Act (SFCA), Health of Animals Regulations (HAR) and Food and Drug Act (FDA).

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Table 1: Recording inspection data in Digital Service Delivery Platform (DSDP)
Inspection trigger

Choose appropriate selection from the following:

  • Preventive Control Inspection plan
  • Incident response
Business line Food
Program Meat hygiene
Commodity group Leave it blank
Commodity sub-group Leave it blank
Commodity type Leave it blank
Product Leave it blank
Inspection case Preventive Control Inspection Plan
Task type Preventive Control Inspections
Inspection task level 1 Compliance Verification of a System
Inspection task level 2 Choose appropriate sub-element from the following:
  • 1.1a: Incoming inputs
  • 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing
  • 1.2: Product controls
  • 5.2 Buildings
Inspection task details Leave it blank

PCI for sub-element 1.1a: Incoming inputs

Legal authorities

SFCR 8, 31(3), 47(1)(2), 49, 86(1), 88, 89, 125(1)(a)(b), 138, 139, 140, 165, 166(1)(2)

Reference documents

Outcome

Refer to the section "Outcome" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1a: Incoming inputs.

Rationale

Refer to the section "Rationale" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1a: Incoming inputs.

Performance criteria

Refer to the section "Performance criteria" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1a: Incoming inputs.

In addition, the criteria below are met.

A. Ante-mortem examination

Note: Sub-element 1.1a covers the sourcing/purchasing of incoming inputs, including imported inputs, while sub-element 6.1 covers the receiving step. In case of slaughter, sub-element 1.1a covers receiving of food animals too.

Humane handling issues identified during verification of ante-mortem examination are covered under Appendix 3 – Animal Welfare at Slaughter PCI Operational Guidance.

When sourcing for and verifying live food animals (red meat animals) received, a licence holder should ensure that hazards are identified and control measures are in place to ensure that the red meat animals are suitable for their intended use in the production of edible materials and do not provide a source of contamination or diseases (reportable, foreign animal or zoonotic diseases). A licence holder must complete their own ante-mortem examination of 100% of the animals received, both sides in motion and present to these officials the food animal information document (Equine identification document (EID)) if necessary, and subsequently present live animals for CFIA ante-mortem inspection.

To meet these performance criteria, the licence holder:

Verification activities

Note: this sub-element must be added to a case in the following situations:

Refer to the "Verification activities" section in Operational guideline - Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1a: Incoming inputs.

Document/records review

Refer to the "Document / record review" section in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1a: Incoming inputs.

On-site: observation and interview

Refer to the "On-site: observations and interview" section in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1a: Incoming inputs.

PCI for sub-element 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing

Legal authorities

SFCR 8, 47, 86, 88, 89, 125, 126, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 156, 157, 158, 159

Reference documents

Outcome

Refer to the section "Outcome" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing.

Rationale

Refer to the section "Rationale" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing.

Performance criteria

Refer to the "Performance criteria" section in Operational guideline - Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing.

In addition, the criteria below are met.

A. Red meat dressing procedures

Bovine and cervid dressing (includes all farmed game animals)

Ovine and caprine

Horses

Ostrich, emu and rhea

Swine (hide-on dressing)

Swine (hide-off dressing)

Swine (BBQ hog dressing – market hogs and younger)
All dressing procedures for hogs apply, except for head dropping and carcass splitting.

Recognised partial dressing

Caprine (hide-on hair-off)

Ovine and Caprine (hide-on hair-on)

Collection of carcass parts for edible purposes

Collection of carcass parts for animal food, pharmaceutical, research, artistic, or educational purposes:

B. Post-mortem defect written PCP (for example HIP) procedures

The licence holder meets the regulatory requirements related to a post-mortem defect written PCP (for example HIP) procedures.

To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate that the written procedures for presentation, evisceration, and finished product standards (FPS) meet the current post-mortem defect PCP (for example HIP) requirements detailed in Archived Guidance Annex C: HACCP Based Slaughter Inspection Program (HIP) for Swine for the following:

C. Post-mortem defect written PCP (for example HLIS) procedures

The licence holder meets the regulatory requirements related to a post-mortem defect written PCP (for example the High Line Inspection System) procedures for beef.

To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate that:

D. Post-mortem defect written PCP (for example MSIP Hog) procedures

The licence holder meets the regulatory requirements related to a post-mortem defect written PCP (for example, Modernized Slaughter Inspection Program (MSIP) - Hog) procedures.

To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate that the written procedures meet the post-mortem defect PCP (for example MSIP - Hog) detailed in Modernized Slaughter Inspection Program (MSIP) Hog and Fundamentals of the Post-mortem Defect Management Program for the following:

E. Chilling

The licence holder must ensure that the refrigeration and chilling procedures are carried out in accordance with the guidance documents and regulatory requirements.

To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate the following:

Verification activities

Refer to the "Verification activities" section in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing.

Document/records review

Refer to the "Document / record review" section 'processing' in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing.

On-site: observation and interview

Refer to the "On-site: observations and interview" section 'processing' in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.1bc: Product formulation, specifications and processing.

PCI for sub-element 1.2: Product controls

Legal authorities

SFCA 6(1), 14(1)(a), 14(2)(a); SFCR 86, 88, 89,151, 157, 158, 175, 179, 180, 183, 282, SFCR Schedule 2 FDA 5(1)

Reference documents

Outcome

Refer to the section "Outcome" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.2: Product controls.

Rationale

Refer to the section "Rationale" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.2: Product controls.

Performance criteria

Refer to the section "Performance criteria" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.2: Product controls.

In addition, the criteria below are met:

A. Application of the inspection legend at slaughter

Note: This section need not be completed if the licence holder has received an exemption to the application of the inspection legend at slaughter as per Exemption to the application of the inspection legend before refrigeration.

The licence holder must ensure that the inspection legend is applied at slaughter in accordance with the guidance documents and regulatory requirements.

To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate the following:

Unless an exemption has been given as per Exemption to the application of the inspection legend before refrigeration, all carcasses or carcass sides must have the inspection legend applied prior to refrigeration.

B. Red meat retained water control program

To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must meet requirements related to moisture retention as detailed below.

For establishments with a written protocol, refer to Annex Y: Guidance for Operators Submitting Protocols to the CFIA and for the Veterinarian in Charge (VIC) for Evaluating Protocols Submitted by Operators for CFIA Acceptance.

For establishments without a written protocol:

For establishments with a written protocol:

C. Trichinella carcass testing methodology

To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate the following:

Verification activities

Refer to the "Verification activities" section, "End Product Specification" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.2: Product controls.

Document/records review

Refer to the "Document / record review" section, "End product specification", in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.2: Product controls.

On-site: observation and interview

Refer to the "On-site: observation and interview" section, "End product specification", in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 1.2: Product controls.

PCI for sub-element 5.2: Buildings

Note: In order to demonstrate compliance with SFCR 41(1), 58(4) and 68, licence holders could follow the industry guidance: Guidance on Canadian Food Inspection Agency inspection stations for slaughter operation of food animals and meat products and Regulatory Requirement: Inspection Services for Food Animals and Meat Products.

If the licence holder does not follow the CFIA guidance mentioned above and presents a different means of meeting SFCR requirements, the inspection team should consult with CFIA specialists to verify the validity of the approach.

Legal authorities

SFCR 41(1), 47(2), 49, 55, 58(1)(3)(4), 59 (1)(2), 67(1)(b), 68, 69, 125, 126, 132, 136, 140(b), 145, 146, 147, 148, 156, 157,158, 159

Reference documents

Outcome

Refer to the section "Outcome" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 5.2: Buildings.

Rationale

Refer to the section "Rationale" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 5.2: Buildings.

Performance criteria

Refer to the section "Performance criteria" in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 5.2: Buildings.

In addition, the criteria below are met.

A. Ante-mortem facilities

To meet these performance criteria, the licence holder must ensure the presence of the following in the livestock holding facilities for the use of CFIA inspector(s) performing ante mortem inspection activities:

B. CFIA post-mortem inspection stations (red meat - other than HIP, HLIS, or MSIP)

To meet these performance criteria, the licence holder must ensure the presence of the following related to CFIA post-mortem inspection stations.

In addition to the regulatory requirements for inspection facilities as per Guidance on Canadian Food Inspection Agency Inspection Stations for Slaughter Operation of Food Animals and Meat Products, the following additional facilities and equipment apply:

C. CFIA post-mortem inspection and process control stations (HIP)

To meet these performance criteria, the licence holder must ensure the presence of the following related to CFIA post-mortem inspection stations and process control stations for the HACCP - based slaughter Inspection Program (HIP) for swine.

In addition to the regulatory requirements for inspection facilities as per Guidance on Canadian Food Inspection Agency Inspection Stations for Slaughter Operation of Food Animals and Meat Products, the following additional facilities and equipment apply for the implementation of the HIP program:

D. CFIA post-mortem inspection and presentation test stations (HLIS)

To meet these performance criteria, the licence holder must ensure the presence of the following related to CFIA post-mortem inspection stations and process control stations for the CFIA post-mortem inspection and presentation test stations (HLIS).

In addition to the regulatory requirements for inspection facilities as per Guidance on Canadian Food Inspection Agency Inspection Stations for Slaughter Operation of Food Animals and Meat Products, the following additional facilities and equipment apply for the implementation of the HLIS program:

E. CFIA post mortem inspection and verification points – MSIP- Hog

To meet these performance criteria, the licence holder must ensure the regulatory requirements related to CFIA post mortem inspection and verification points (MSIP Pork) are met.

In addition to the regulatory requirements for inspection facilities as per Guidance on Canadian Food Inspection Agency Inspection Stations for Slaughter Operation of Food Animals and Meat Products, the following applies:

Verification activities

Refer to the "Verification activities" section in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 5.2: Buildings.

Document/records review

Refer to the "Document / record review" section in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 5.2: Buildings.

On-site: observation and interview

Refer to the "On-site: observations and interview" section in Operational guideline: Food preventive control and traceability inspection – Compliance verification of a system: sub-element 5.2: Buildings.

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