Food > Laboratories 

Food Laboratories

CFIA laboratory staff in 16 laboratory sites across the country provide specialized testing that helps ensure that Canada’s food supply is safe; that food labels are honest and accurate; and that food coming into the country (or exported to other countries) meets Canadian standards for safety.

Click here for information about some the causes of foodborne illnessess for which the CFIA tests.

The scientific information that they provide is important in making policy decisions. Food safety technical specialists work with other CFIA staff to design surveillance and monitoring programs, and to arrange and schedule testing for microbial contaminants, chemical and pesticide residues, and other investigations. They also provide scientific and technical information to CFIA staff and the Canadian public.

Many of CFIA’s laboratory staff serve on international committees developing harmonized standards and equivalent testing practices for food safety testing.

All CFIA testing laboratories have obtained, or are in the process of obtaining, accreditation by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) to ISO/IEC Guide 25.

Agri-foods and Processed Products

Eight of the CFIA’s laboratories test agri-foods (meat and meat products; poultry and poultry products; dairy products; fruits and vegetables) and processed products (preserved, canned or frozen foods). These labs are located in:

These food testing laboratories provide scheduled testing services according to national sampling plans for monitoring the Canadian food supply; and they also offer special testing and expert advice to support CFIA officials in investigations of consumer complaints, disease outbreaks, and emerging food safety issues. They provide testing and methods development for:

Chemistry

• Residues of veterinary drugs in meat and meat products, dairy products, eggs and honey
• Pesticide residues; PCBs dioxins, furans and other environmental contaminants
• Heavy or toxic metals; and other adulterants or trace elements;
• Nutritional labeling and food composition; analyses for additives
• Detection of allergens
• Detection of mycotoxins
• Food authenticity
• Technical and audit services for lab accreditation
• Other testing on request to support investigations of consumer complaints and disease outbreak investigations

Microbiology

• Foodborne pathogens and indicator organisms; commercial sterility; extraneous matter
• Container integrity
• Meat species verification
• Technical and audit services for lab accreditation
• Complaint and disease outbreak investigations

Parasitology

• Testing for parasites in meat and fish
• Technical, training and audit services to accredit private labs for trichinosis testing.

Fish and Seafood Products

Labs specializing in fish and seafood products are located in:

In addition to chemical and microbiological services for the CFIA’s fish and seafood products programs, these laboratories provide special testing and expert advice to support CFIA officials in investigations of consumer complaints, disease outbreaks and emerging food safety issues.

They also provide technical support for hazards identification and control, and they provide audit and technical support for the accreditation of private laboratories, including the operation of proficiency testing programs for histamines, mercury and sulphites. Monitoring tests for marine biotoxins in shellfish harvesting areas is an important activity at five of these laboratory sites. The CFIA Laboratories in Dartmouth (NS) and Winnipeg (MB) (University Crescent) provide testing and technology development for the sensory and chemical indicator program.

Services provided by these labs include:

Chemistry

• Residues of drugs and antibiotics
• Residues of pesticides, organochlorines and other environmental contaminants
• Additives, trace elements
• Compositional analyses of processed products
• Species identification
• Mercury and heavy metals
• Quality indicators (histamine)

Microbiology

• Foodborne pathogens and indicator organisms
• Spoilage organisms
• Container integrity
• Commercial sterility
• Clostridium botulinum toxins

Biotoxins

The CFIA operates a comprehensive monitoring program to provide early warning of the appearance of the toxins of paralytic,  amnesic and diarrhetic shellfish poisoning in shellfish harvesting areas. Laboratory staff work closely with CFIA inspection staff and external partners to test samples from hundreds of coastal sites. They also test for ciguera toxin (which may may affect imports of reef fish from tropical waters) and spirolides, to ensure the safety of domestic and imported fish and seafood products.

• Policy on the Use of Third Party Laboratories for Testing Fish and Fish Products Under the Fish Inspection Program