Animal Health
Canada maintains a strong commitment to the control and elimination of serious animal diseases through our National Animal Health Program. This program administered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency requires ongoing surveillance and is supported by the Canadian Cattle Identification System, the first of its type in North America.
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Ante-mortem inspection
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Animal Welfare Standards
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Animal Health Monitoring
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Animal Health Product Approvals
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BSE Feed Controls
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Animal Genetics Import Controls
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Canadian Cattle Identification Agency
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Transport best practices
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National Animal Disease Surveillance
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HACCP Feed Production program
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Canadian Livestock Tracking System
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Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Food Safety
Canada’s food safety system for beef slaughter and fabrication is based on the internationally recognized HACCP model. The focus of HACCP is the prevention of foodborne illness, which continues to be the most important priority of the Canadian beef industry.
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Canadian Food inspection agency
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Box Label Information
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Post-Mortem Inspection
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Health Canada
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Temperature Monitoring
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HACCP Beef Safety Program
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Carcass Food Safety Treatments
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Cut/Trim Food Safety treatments
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Microbial Testing Programs
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National Chemical Residue Monitoring Program
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Removal of Specified Risk Materials
Grading Standards
Quality grades are assigned to carcasses by a Canadian Beef Grading Agency certified grader. The marbling thresholds that define USDA Prime (slightly abundant), Choice (small) and Select (slight) are also used in Canada to segregate youthful maturity carcasses into Canada Prime, AAA and AA respectively
Beef Quality
Grain feeding contributes to well-marbled, flavourful and tender Canadian beef with firm, white-coloured fat. Canadian feeding practices enable approximately 90% of fed cattle to reach optimum market weights at 24 months of age or less. A younger age at harvest enhances tenderness and overall eating quality.
