The Canadian Pork Council (CPC) confirms that pork from one Canadian pork establishment have been temporarily suspended after Chinese officials . say a shipment of frozen pork products tested positive for the presence of Ractopamine.
This makes three Canadian pork processors currently blocked from shipping to China. The first two sites — one in Quebec and one in Alberta — were cited for labeling issues.
Ractopamine is a feed additive. Currently, it’s banned from use in several countries. Ractopamine is approved by Health Canada, however, Canadian pork that market to federally licensed processing facilities do not use the additive.
The CPC says that Canadian pork producers do not use Ratopamine to raise hogs and ensure their animals do not come in contact with the product through the Canadian Ractopamine-Free Pork Certification Program. This assurance is provided through thorough record keeping and routine audits at the farm and on-farm feed mill, commercial feed mill, and federally inspected slaughterhouse. All parties share the responsibility in establishing and maintaining this assurance and have confidence in the program.
“Our industry partners, the affected establishment and CFIA are working with Chinese authorities to better understand the details of the case of a positive Ractopamine test,” says a CPC representative in an email. “A comprehensive review of this situation is being conducted by CIFA and we are awaiting the details of investigation.”
