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Canada is well recognized for its agri food products quality and safety, and the regulations for seal meat products are no different than other seafood or meat products. Learn more about seal meat quality control in Canada.
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Canada is well recognized for its agri food products quality and safety, and the regulations for seal meat products are no different than other seafood or meat products. Here are some useful information to learn more about seal meat quality assurance in Canada.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible to establish policies and standards for the safety and nutritional quality of seal meat sold in Canada. Seal meat meets all health and safety requirements pertaining to mercury, heavy metals and other pollutants as determined by the CFIA.
CFIA also implements the Safe Food for Canadians Regulations (SFCR) which are aligned with internationally recognized standards, such as Codex Alimentarius, for food safety and consumer protection requirements. Under the SFCR, food businesses are required to prepare, keep and maintain a written Preventive Control Plan (PCP) to demonstrate how hazards and risks to food are addressed.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is in charge to develop and enforce the Codes of practice or the Harvest, Transport, Processing, and Export of Seal Products Intended for Human Consumption. This Code Of Practice is intended to establish controls pertaining to the entire chain of events from harvest to final packaging of seal meat products for domestic consumption or export.
Inspection of seal carcasses at sea for the purpose of harvesting products for human consumption involves a number of unique challenges compared to that of domestic animals or terrestrial wildlife. These challenges make it particularly important for harvesters and processors to ensure that food safety preventative controls are consistently applied to all seal carcasses brought onboard vessels.
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In Canada, it’s the CFIA who is responsible to authorize food processing and export activities through licensing. Here is a list of CFIA Approved Establishments maintained and approved by CFIA for export.
Here are some examples of exports requirements for edible seal meat products in South Korea and Hong Kong.
Several provinces have their own regulations for seal products that are processed and sold within that same province.
In all Canadian provinces or territories, seal is considered as a “fish” because it lives in water. However, in the province of Quebec, seal is considered as meat because it is a mammal.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Quebec
In the province of Quebec, seal is considered as meat because it is a mammal. This disagreement on seal product regulations has slowed down market development and responsible resource management for many years. SeaDNA ,https://www.seadna.ca/seal-cuts-phoconailles/
You can find below more information about the seal meat industry in Quebec:
In the Quebec province, the processing know-how for seal meat comes from Mr. Réjean Vigneau, from the Magdalen Islands (Îles-de-la-Madeleine), a small island located East of the province of Quebec. Mr. Vigneau worked closely with the MAPAQ in order to develop harvesting, conservation and processing protocols for high quality seal meat.SeaDNA ,https://www.seadna.ca/seal-cuts-phoconailles/
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Seal fur and leather is a very versatile textile used in multiple applications such as accessories, footwear, outerwear and home decor.
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Seal meat represents an excellent source of protein and is high in iron, zinc, magnesium and vitamin B-12. This wild game meat is free from antibiotics and added hormones.
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