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Quebec Pork Processor Slapped with $62,000 Fine

By Dan Flynn and Suzanna Schreck

A Quebec pork processor twice named as one of Canada's best-managed companies is being fined $62,000 for multiple violations of the federal Meat Inspection Act.
The Court of Quebec fined ATRAHAN Transformation Inc., which exports port to about 50 counties, after the processor plead guilty to 27 violations of Canada's Meat Inspection Act and Regulations.
A team of on-site inspectors and veterinarians from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)  inspects ATRAHAN Transformation's plant at Yamachiche, about 12 miles west of Trois-Rivieres.
The company makes prominent mention of that CFIA team at the facility on its website.  
The pork processor now has been convicted of a series of offenses that occurred between October 2007 and May 2008.
The violations of Part III of the Meat Inspection Regulations, 1990 involve failure to comply with the requirements of humane treatment and slaughter, improper operation of a bolt pistol, inadequate monitoring of carcasses and impeding the work of those very inspectors it extols on its website.
In addition to inspecting pork and other meat products, CFIA is responsible for enforcing a variety of federal statutes, including the Meat Inspection Act and Regulations. 
This legislation governs the humane treatment and slaughter of animals in federally registered abattoirs.  Such establishments must also meet inspection standards for the animals and meat products prepared there.
Founder Achille Trahan established the Quebec pork processing company in 1956.
It claims to have never had a lay-off, and was included among Canada's Best Managed Companies in both 2003 and 2008 in awards sponsored by the Deloitte accounting firm and the National Post.
Its major markets are Eastern Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Korea and Japan.

Full post as published by Food Safety News on October 07, 2010 (boomark / email).