News

First peanuts, now pistachios.

Canadians are being warned to avoid eating certain brands of pistachios as part of a growing recall that started in the United States last month.

The warning comes as consumers and retailers across the country are still grappling with the effects of the continuing recall of peanut products, which have been linked to nearly 700 illnesses and nine deaths in the United States and have affected dozens of retail brands in Canada. Earlier this week, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency added more items to the long list of peanut products that have already been recalled.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has taken the step of advising Americans to avoid all pistachio products over fears of salmonella contamination.

Officials believe the list of recalled products will grow because the nuts were distributed to many food manufacturers. Although it hasn't been confirmed, the FDA suspects several illnesses are tied to the tainted pistachios.

Products recalled in Canada are Munchies brand pistachios, sold by Frito Lay Canada, as well as President's Choice premium nut collection and President's Choice white chocolate cranberry pistachio bark.

The pistachios at the centre of the voluntary recall are believed to have originated from a Setton International Foods Inc. plant in California. The plant distributes pistachios to numerous companies that sell them or use them as ingredients in products. The contamination was detected after Kraft, which used pistachios from Setton Foods, had its product voluntarily tested. The Associated Press reported yesterday that while the California plant passed a health inspection last year, inspectors found cockroaches and rodent droppings at its sister New York plant during a surprise inspection last month.

Canadian officials said there is no reason to believe the peanut and pistachio problems are linked, since the products originate from different companies in different parts of the United States. While the CFIA stopped short of warning Canadians against consuming any pistachios, it said consumers will likely see the number of products affected by the problem grow.

"I think that's something we can expect," said Garfield Balsom, food safety and recall specialist at the CFIA.

The new pistachio recall raises serious questions about the safety of Canada's food supply in an era when mass-marketed goods - which make the spread of possibly contaminated products difficult to control - account for much of what is sold in stores.

Mounting recalls involving deli meats, spinach, pet food, tomatoes and now peanuts and pistachios have sparked outrage among consumers and politicians who say a major overhaul is needed to ensure food safety.

In Canada, the Conservative government reintroduced legislation in January aimed at beefing up consumer safety, after the bill died when Parliament was prorogued last year. The proposed changes include requiring companies to maintain food tracking systems and giving government the power to recall goods, instead of relying on the company to do it voluntarily.

But the bill has also been criticized because critics say it would limit the government's role in food inspections and instead hand those responsibilities to industry.

In the United States, news of massive recalls and illnesses linked to tainted food has led to calls for improvements to the food safety system to ensure plants are following safe procedures and are testing products.

One Canadian food-safety expert said that testing food once it's ready to be shipped to retailers is inefficient and won't ensure food safety. Since companies often produce a large quantity of numerous different products, and food is susceptible to many types of contamination, the focus should be on preventing problems, said Mansel Griffiths, director of the Canadian Research Institute for Food Safety.

"It's to make sure that good manufacturing practices and good management systems are in place, that they are shown to be operating efficiently," said Prof. Griffiths, who is also a professor in the food science department at the University of Guelph.

For more information, visit inspection.gc.ca.