To mitigate the threat linked to E. coli O157:H7 in romaine lettuce from the US, the Canadian Meals Inspection Agency (CFIA) has presented the implementation of non everlasting Protected Meals for Canadians (SFC) license stipulations.
The measures shall be in attain from Sept. 28 to Dec. 20.
In line with the CFIA, this action change into once taken to deal with the habitual outbreaks of foodborne diseases linked to E. coli O157:H7 in romaine lettuce imported from the US. Investigations by U.S. authorities gain traced the source of the outbreaks to the California Salinas Valley counties of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito, and Monterey.
All over the designated length, importers of romaine lettuce and salad mixes containing romaine lettuce from the U.S. need to adhere to one among the next requirements:
- Inform that the product does no longer originate from the Salinas Valley counties of California talked about above, or
- Post an attestation blueprint and Certificates of Analysis for every and every shipment, confirming that the romaine lettuce is free from detectable ranges of E. coli O157:H7.
The CFIA emphasizes that these non everlasting SFC license stipulations are as well to present import requirements. Importers need to additionally be conscious other Canadian rules and fulfill explicit stipulations at the time of import.
To import romaine lettuce from launch air the specified California counties, importers are required to give Proof of Foundation indicating the notify and county the keep the romaine lettuce change into once harvested.
For romaine lettuce originating from the Salinas Valley counties, the next stipulations desires to be met:
- An attestation, the expend of blueprint Importer’s Attestation for Romaine Lettuce Products from the Salinas Valley, California, United States (CFIA/ACIA 5961; 2023/06), confirming that sampling change into once performed per the non everlasting SFC license stipulations and that E. coli O157:H7 change into once no longer detected.
- Certificates of Analysis for every and every romaine product in the shipment, issued by an approved laboratory, exhibiting detrimental results for E. coli O157:H7.
Importers need to get sure that that romaine lettuce from California has been dealt with by a certified member of the California Leafy Greens Marketing Agreement (LGMA). Equally, romaine lettuce from Arizona desires to be dealt with by a shipper certified by the Arizona LGMA.
The sampling and testing for E. coli O157:H7 would possibly perchance maybe also just additionally be conducted the expend of two suggestions: carried out-product sampling or pre-harvest sampling. In either case, the laboratory conducting the checks desires to be approved by an accreditation physique conforming to the requirements of ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for explicit checks.
The CFIA urges importers to strictly adhere to the sampling requirements to get sure the safety of romaine lettuce shipments to Canada. Failure to conform with the non everlasting license stipulations and import requirements would possibly perchance maybe also just stay wide awake in enforcement action taken by the CFIA.
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