Mycotoxins at the Bar

Affidia, the Journal of Food Diagnostics, recently consulted with several international food law experts, including Glenford Jameson, on the problem of safety-of-use in the cereal chain. Canadian agricultural cereal exports (wheat, corn/maize, e.g.) are frequently targeted by foreign food safety authorities for potentially high levels of contaminants exceeding the maximum limits for adulterants. The author, phd candidate Sara Moraca, through her own research and by speaking with food lawyers and experts from Italy, the United States, Netherlands, and Canada, found that mycotoxins as an adulterant had been significantly criminalized when imported into Italy, dealt with through significant administrative enforcement and penalties in Netherlands, light regulatory action in the United States, and a somewhat stronger regulatory response in Canada.

Glenford pointed to the significant obligations on importers of food to Canada under the Safe Food for Canadians Act and Regulations, as well as the administrative monetary penalties that exist under that framework. When asked about civil liability in Canada with respect to exceeding mycotoxins and adulterants, Glenford stated “If there are damages experienced by someone who has consumed contaminated food, then it is possible that they could bring a civil private action, or, more often in a larger outbreak, a class action. However, Canada’s approach to its damages regime and its social safety net have resulted in far fewer lawsuits relating to food safety civil litigation than in the United States, for example. When you consider that damages primarily take the form of sick days, missed work, and healthcare costs, it becomes evident how the calculation of damages in Canada generally results in far fewer significant enthusiastic plaintiffs than in the US.”

Canadian exporters of various cereals have long complained of unfair treatment by certain European countries due to perceived safety issues relating to the industrial agricultural practices employed in the growing and harvesting of conventional wheat, for example. The Canadian perception is that real worries by consumers in Italy about glyphosate use and residues has pushed the Italian regulators to over-test and regulate wheat exported to Italy, which results in a higher than normal analysis and rejection of Canadian wheat.

You can read the entire article here: https://affidia.tech/02-2020-mycotoxins-free-issue/