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The Rural Voice, 1998-06, Page 30LESLIE HAWKEN & SON Custom Manufacturing LIVESTOCK & FARM EQUIPMENT • Calf Creeps • Cattle Panels • Headgates & Chutes • Portable Loading Chutes • Gate -Mounted Grain Feeders Big Bale Wagons Bale Throwing Racks l• or the best quality and service — Call Jim Hawken Rural Route Three Markdale 519-986-2507 VOG ELS' WICK WEEDERS • Contact herbicide applicator • Economical way to control weeds growing above the crop • Trail models available 10' - 60' wide • Other models in stock Manufactured by: PAUL VOGELS R.R. #2, Kippen Ontario, NOM 2E0 519-522-1030 Fax 519-522-1040 26 THE RURAL VOICE facilities to keep improved records, is a prerequisite for HACCP. That has to be in place before plants could go to HACCP, he says. Responding to the suggestion heard from some operators of smaller plants, that the increased paperwork and cost to meet standards could force doors to close, Giddings says some of those plants may already be borderline, unable to afford more costs. "However, we can't afford food problems," he adds. Some of the costs associated with the new audit system, as well as future HACCP accreditation, deals with the construction of the plant and • product flow. "We are trying to eliminate the back flow of product." Abattoirs are being asked to avoid contact between cooked and raw product whether while in storage or in the movement of the commodity through the facility. Because of the age of many of the smaller slaughter houses, Giddings says major capital investment might be required to accommodate the regulations. With implement- ation of the new audit system in April, the current focus is primarily on food safety. Provincial abattoirs had to meet 70 per cent compliance with regulations, then were given a timetable to improve any deficiencies. Rocheleau agrees that some plants may close instead of investing further dollars into the facility. However, he adds, this is a personal choice. "They may decide it is not worth the added cost. Consumers will then be left with better abattoirs." Giddings also admits that "documentation is the biggest problem" for facilities achieving compliance. "They have to realize the business has changed." The customers and industry want a scientific basis to meat inspection, he says. "The older style of running an abattoir considered sausage making an art, not a science." The amount of paperwork also concerns Romanowski. "They want to know when and how I washed (the plant), with what chemicals, who does the laundry, who picks up the garbage. It would add an hour of work every day. Small plants like me can't afford to hire someone for the job so I have to do it." Metzger agrees that the paperwork for small butchers to keep track of all their products is "unreal", but admits once the system gets going, it will be good for the industry. Though Giddings says there is always some resistence to new regulations, he believes most people will be brought up to standards within the next three years. In spite of projected workload increases and capital expenditures by abattoirs, the benefits of the new provincial audit system and possible future implementation of HACCP definitely has consumer benefits. In particular, the documentation will record each step and process through which a product passes. As in the recent case of contamination in lunchable food products from a large processor, the presence of paperwork allowed the source to be traced. "If there is a problem, we can trace it easier and stop it sooner," say Rocheleau. "The record keeping narrows a product down to day and batch. This is a benefit to provincial abattoirs as they ar': often seen in the media as not being up-to-date." Ontario Pork has been working with HACCP for a year, he says. There is now greater comfort with the product in the plant. Though Rocheleau supports improved standards in abattoirs, he stresses that governments must consider the service rural provincial plants provide to their communities. "The federal plants are geared to speed, mass production and exports. Provincial facilities are the backbone of the industry." As for Metzger and the possibility of HACCP implementation within a few years, he says he tries to keep himself informed so he and his business can be prepared as the changing standards are enforced. Anyone wishing more information on HACCP or meat inspection regulations can check CFIA's web site at www.cfia-acia.agr.ca. "They have to realize the business has changed"