Federally inspected meat processing facilities in Canada have a multi-level inspection process to detect cattle and beef that are at risk of carrying disease or containing unacceptable residues.
Ante-mortem inspection: As legislated in the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990, all cattle are inspected by Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) inspection staff before they are slaughtered. Among other things, this inspection ensures that all cattle carry the mandatory individual animal identification ear tag to assist in disease trace-back, identifies animals that require special handling for animal welfare reasons, identifies any animal welfare infractions and those animals that appear to be unhealthy. Animals that raise concerns are called “suspect”. Continue reading