McDonald’s Support Livestock Traceability
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McDonald’s Canada, one of the largest buyers of Canadian beed, has declared its support of the Canadian government’s mandate to implement livestock traceability measures by 2011.
In a statement to the Manitoba Cattle Producers Association, McDonald’s Canada’s senior vice-president, Jeff Kroll said: “McDonald’s believes that a robust, national traceability system is critical to ensuring consumer confidence and building brand trust in the beef industry… McDonald’s Canada proudly supports the Canadian beef industry. Beef is at the core of our menu and with the help of our dedicated Canadian partners in the industry, we are meeting the needs of our customers by delivering safety, quality, consistency, and innovation in our varied beef offerings.”
He acknowledged that the traceability measures present an additional cost to producers but said that McDonald’s felt it was “simply the right thing to do” to protect business interests both domestically and internationally. He also said he believes that consumers will pay more for food products that they feel have extra security measures in place.
McDonald’s has been emphasizing traceability for all of its menu items since the outbreak of BSE, when consumer awareness around food production issues greatly increased and customers began demanding greater food safety.
Last year, McDonald’s Canada bought approximately 64 million pounds of Canadian beef, as well as 44 million pounds of chicken and 62 million eggs. Over two million Canadians eat at McDonald’s every day – representing about ten per cent of the population.
The mandatory livestock traceability systems have three basic components: identification of animal, identification of premise of origin, and history of animal movement. The measures are seen as essential in the protection of public health and food safety. Their implementation is intended to reduce response time should an emergency situation arise, such as a disease outbreak – therefore reducing the economic, environmental, and even social impacts of such an outbreak.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency currently enforces identification systems for cattle, bison and sheep under the Health of Animals Regulations.
Under the new system, all livestock will be tagged with identification systems that will assign a unique identification number to each animal that the animal will maintain for the entirety of its life. The identification numbers will be distributed through authorized tag dealers.
