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PUBLIC HEALTH
VETERINARIANS SERVE PUBLIC WITH ROLE IN FOOD SAFETY
By Dr. Nicola Jackson
Regional Veterinarian Central Ontario
OMAFRA
The Veterinary Inspection and Audit Unit
(VIAU) is part of the Food Inspection Branch
at the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and
Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), with its headquarters
in Guelph. The unit is currently comprised of
one manager, six regional veterinarians (RVs),
one veterinary scientist (VS), four food safety
advisors, and one administrative service
representative.
The majority of the staff are located at the
Guelph office, with field staff spread across
the province at OMAFRA regional offices
in London, Elora, Kemptville, Midhurst,
and Lindsay. The unit supports the meat
inspection program and its operations, works
with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency
(CFIA) to ensure the control of Specified Risk
Materials (SRM), and is responsible for the
administration of the meat plant compliance
verification audit, and fish interim audit
programs.
The veterinary scientist (VS) is primarily
tasked with providing expert veterinary
advice to our inspectors in the field by
providing carcass dispositions based ante
mortem and post mortem findings, as well
as providing guidance with incidents related
to livestock transportation and traceability.
In some situations, the VS will call upon our
network of 65 appointed veterinarians (private
practitioners who have received specialized
training) across the province to attend
licensed facilities to conduct ante mortem and
post mortem exams, as well as to coordinate
emergency slaughter services. to approve specific written protocols for use
in licensed meat plants as required by the
Meat Regulation (e.g. teaching materials,
research materials, pet food and animal food).
All of our regional veterinarians are certified
Professional Animal Auditor Certification
Organization (PAACO) meat plant auditors,
and have had training as professional food
premise auditors with the British Retail
Consortium (BRC). These skills are used to
conduct yearly food safety and animal welfare
audits at every provincially licensed facility, in
addition to SRM audits in conjunction with the
CFIA.
Regional veterinarians have a strong presence
in our abattoirs conducting routine visits to
assess animal welfare, humane handling and
slaughter, hygienic slaughter, food safety,
and proper handling of inedible materials
(i.e. High risk inedibles (SRM) vs clean
inedibles). They also work with plant operators The VIAU team also supports the meat
inspection program through assistance with
policy development, routine monitoring at
meat plants for compliance with the regulatory
requirements, emergency management and
preparedness, developing tools for staff and
external stakeholders, and playing a major
role in the training of meat inspection staff
and appointed veterinarians. As you can see,
we all juggle many hats in a day. Every day is
different, and provides new challenges and
opportunities to learn and better serve the
people of Ontario.
Currently in Ontario there are 370 licensed
freestanding meat plants (FSMPs), 125
licensed abattoirs and 120 non-federally
registered fish processors. Day to day
inspection of carcasses and meat products
in our licensed facilities is conducted by the
provinces team of 150 meat hygiene officers
(MHOs) and further processing inspectors
(FPIs).
If you are interested in knowing more about
the roles of veterinarians in the public service,
or would like information about joining our
team as an Appointed Veterinarian, please
feel free to contact me via email at nicola.
[email protected] or by phone at 519-826-
3659.
College Staff
Registrar’s Office
Ms. Jan Robinson - Registrar & CEO
Ms. Anita Lovrich
Policy Specialist
Ms. Kim Huson
Communications Specialist
Corporate Services
Ms. Beth Ready
Executive Partner, Corporate Services
Ms. Sarah Ellery
Associate, Corporate Services
Ms. Ashley Coles
Business Intelligence Analyst
Ms. Jessie Molody
Ambassador, Corporate Services
Licensure
Ms. Shilo Tooze
Associate Registrar, Licensure
Ms. Lindsay Sproule
Principal, Licensure & Professional
Corporations
Ms. Sarah Kirby
Associate, Licensure & Professional
Corporations
Ms. Rose Robinson
Principal, Investigations & Resolutions
Mr. Martin Fischer
Investigations & Inspections
Specialist
Ms. Cindy Rose
Associate, Investigations &
Resolutions
Quality Practice
Dr. Kim Lambert
Associate Registrar, Quality Practice
Dr. Susan Sabatini
Practice Advisor
Ms. Megan Callaway
Principal, Quality Assurance &
Improvement
Ms. Aneeta Bharij
Principal, Accreditation
Accreditation Inspectors
Mr. Wilf Muller
Mr. Adrian Darmon
Licensure & Quality Practice
Ms. Emily Lewis
Associate, Programs
Spring 2018
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