Overview

The Meat Inspection Program ensures that provincially licensed meat plants comply with legislated standards for the slaughter and production of safe meat products.

Veterinary inspectors and regional veterinarians make dispositions on:

  • individual livestock
  • groups of livestock
  • carcasses
  • parts of carcasses
  • related meat products

Food safety inspectors and veterinary inspectors may deem an animal, carcass or part of a carcass to be unfit for human consumption and condemned.

They can do this through the Food Safety and Quality Act, 2001 and Ontario Regulation 31/05. The Act and regulation do not provide an avenue for appeal of a disposition or a responsibility to communicate directly with the producers of the animal(s).

Process for condemnation

Inspectors give a Whole and/or Partial Carcass Condemnation Form to the meat plant operator. It outlines the condemnation reason(s) and the abnormal observations that informed the disposition. The operator can then provide a copy of the form to the producer if applicable.

Option for discussion

If you are a livestock producer, you may request a meeting between you, your herd/flock veterinarian and a veterinarian from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness to discuss potential herd/flock health implications associated with the abnormalities that led to condemnation.

The plant operator must submit the request to the appropriate meat inspection area manager within 10 business days of the Whole and/or Partial Carcass Condemnation Form being issued.

Eligibility

You may request a discussion with a ministry veterinarian if you are the:

  • livestock producer of the condemned animal/carcass, and have commitment that your herd/flock veterinarian will also attend a discussion
  • herd/flock veterinarian for the producer of the condemned animal/carcass and have permission from the producer

Purpose

We are committed to improving transparency regarding inspection decisions and improving animal health in the province.

A discussion with a ministry veterinarian is educational with the goal of improving animal health and reducing the risk of future condemnations. These discussions are intended to help producers and their veterinarians:

  • understand the factors contributing to the disposition
  • identify and address possible herd/flock health issues at the farm level

The herd/flock veterinarian of the condemned animal/carcass must be in attendance for the meeting to proceed.

What happens in a discussion

The ministry veterinarian will review the information provided on the Whole and/or Partial Carcass Condemnation Form and explain how the findings informed the final disposition. They may review laboratory results if additional testing was pursued as part of the carcass assessment. More than one condemnation form may be discussed if the animals are from the same producer.

The ministry veterinarian will discuss possible best practices to improve overall animal/herd health with the producer and herd/flock veterinarian.

How to request a discussion

  1. Contact the meat plant operator that processed the animals. They are responsible for submitting the request on your behalf.
  2. The meat plant operator must contact the local Meat Inspection Program area manager to let them know you want to request a discussion with a ministry veterinarian.
  3. The area manager will provide the plant operator with a Meat Inspection Program Animal Health Discussion Request form. The producer and/or herd/flock veterinarian (“requestor”) is responsible for filling-out the entire form.
  4. The meat plant operator submits the completed form to the area manager.

We will respond to the request within 10 business days. If you need a response urgently, write this on the request form.