Our food safety supply system is one of the most stringent and one of safest in the world; but on occasion, recalls are issued to take foods off the market to protect the public’s health from food safety hazards.
Foods contaminated with certain organisms you can’t see, smell, or taste – bacteria, viruses, and tiny parasites – can cause food-borne illnesses. Every year, about 4 million (1 in 8) Canadians are affected by food-borne illness.
Foods are removed for various reasons including:
- Discovery of an organism in a product that may make consumers sick
- Discovery of a potential allergen in a product
- Mislabelling or misbranding of food, such as food may contain an allergen (nuts or eggs), but not listed on the label
On average, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) conducts 3,000 food safety investigations each year.
Learn more about current recall warnings and allergy alerts.
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