Canadian Pork Excellence Speaks Directly to Consumers

The Executive Director of the Canadian Pork Council says Canada’s new food safety and animal care assurance program speaks directly to what consumers are looking for

By Bruce Cochrane – FarmScape Online

The rollout of the PigSAFE and PigCARE components of Canadian Pork Excellence is scheduled to begin in January with the first on farm evaluations expected to start in April.

John Ross, the Executive Director of the Canadian Pork Council, told those on hand yesterday for Saskatchewan Pork Industry Symposium 2018 credible quality assurance is key to maintaining public trust.

“It’s up to Canadian producers to talk about Canadian production”

“I think what Canadians are looking for, across actually all of agriculture products, and not specifically to pork, is products that are safe, products that are nutritious and they are responsibly raised.

“I think the Canadian pork Excellence hits on all of those topics.

“Certainly the on farm food safety and animal care line up exactly with what Canadians are expecting.

“So it’s up to Canadian producers to talk about Canadian production and we’re the best folks to talk about why and how we do things on the farm that benefits the folks that consume, in this case, Canadian pork.

“The programs themselves, PigSAFE and PigCARE, provide a very credible platform for producers to use.

“They can say listen, we can actually demonstrate to you what we do on the farm and why it matters, how it matters, and how it reflects the good stewardship that we have for our animals and why the product we produce as Canadian pork is not only safe but nutritious; all of those things that matter to consumers.”

Ross says public trust is extremely important and that if consumers lose trust they’ll call for increased regulation and the Canadian pork sector is already highly regulated.