Canadian food safety tests show compliance rates above 97%, national inspection agency says

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency said annual testing and monitoring programmes found high levels of compliance with the country's food safety standards, with most domestic and imported food products meeting regulatory requirements.

The findings come from three national monitoring programmes that assess microbiological and chemical risks in food sold across Canada, including products intended for infants and young children, said CFIA in a statement.

According to the CFIA's National Microbiological Monitoring Program for 2024-25, the agency conducted 12,641 tests on 5,305 domestic and imported food products. The results showed compliance rates of 99% for domestic products and 98.9% for imported products.

The agency also carried out 1,735 tests on 1,496 environmental samples collected from food production settings. About 97.8% of those samples were found satisfactory and required no further regulatory action.

Separately, the National Chemical Residue Monitoring Program for 2022-23 examined approximately 15,500 samples of food products, including dairy, meat, seafood, eggs, honey, fruits, vegetables and maple products.

The Children's Food Project, which examined 105 samples of pureed foods for babies and young children in 2023, found all tested products met Canadian requirements.

More than 110,000 tests were conducted for pesticide residues, veterinary drugs, heavy metals, mycotoxins and other contaminants.

The CFIA said 97.5% of samples complied with Canadian safety standards.Testing of foods intended for infants and young children also found no concerns related to pesticide residues.

The agency said the monitoring programmes help identify emerging food safety risks and support enforcement activities when non-compliant products are detected.

Depending on the level of risk, follow-up actions can include notifying producers and importers, conducting inspections, increasing sampling, informing foreign regulators or recalling products from the market.

The CFIA said the data also helps guide future inspections and surveillance efforts by identifying trends and areas that may pose greater health risks to consumers.

Canada's food safety system relies on routine monitoring of both domestically produced and imported food products, a process the agency says helps maintain consumer confidence and supports international trade.