The Canadian Research Coalition for Safe Food and Water is a 17-member coalition of federal organizations, funding agencies, and private sector partners with memberships based across the country. The Coalition is committed to supporting research and knowledge translation to share results regarding the microbial contamination of food and water and ntimicrobial resistance in the food chain. The Coalition works to build upon individual partners' capacities and encourage collaborative projects. This represents the first time five federal bodies have collaborated with industry and research groups in a formal research network of this agnitude. The Coalition incorporates the skill and knowledge of many of Canada's leaders in these areas, and its outcomes will impact food and water safety issues affecting Canadians.
The vision of a research network in food and water safety arose much earlier. In June 2000, coincidentally just a week after the E. coli outbreak in Walkerton, Ont., a national workshop convened scientists from Canadian universities, government departments, and industry to evaluate research in Canada in the areas of food and water safety. Hosted at the University of British Columbia, the workshop resulted in recommendations which included the improved co-ordination of research among the federal and academic sectors through the creation of a research network. With the establishment of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Infection and Immunity in 2001, these recommendations became key to the Institute's initiatives in its strategic research area of the Microbial Safety of Food and Water. Beginning in the summer of 2001, the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity extended invitations to members of Canada's food and water research and industry sectors to join in developing a food and water safety research agenda.
The response was strong, and partners in the Coalition began actively supporting research in May 2002 through a Request for Applications titled Microbial Safety of Food and Water-Needs, Gaps and Opportunities Assessment. A major Request for Applications was launched in November 2002, titled Microbial Contamination of Food and Water and Antimicrobial Resistance in the Food Chain, Phase II - Establishing a Framework. The Coalition was formalized Oct. 31, 2002 through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) establishing "cooperation in the research agenda of science and technology related to food and water safety in Canada." Its newest member, the Dairy Farmers of Canada, joined in mid-2003.
The Canadian Research Coalition for Safe Food and Water
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Canadian Agri-Food
Research Council
Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network
Canadian Cattlemen's Association
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian Pork Council
Canadian Veterinary Medical Association
Canadian Water Network
Chicken Farmers of Canada
Dairy Farmers of Canada
Environment Canada
Genome Canada
Health Canada
National Research Council Canada
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada
For more information please contact:
Judith Bray, Ph.D
Assistant Director, Special Projects
Institute of Cancer Research
Institute of Infection and Immunity
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Tel: 613-954-7223 Fax: 613-941-1040
jbray@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
