As part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's (CFIA) annual monitoring of various food products, a report released today found that the overall compliance rate of the 2011-2012 Children's Food Project was 99.7 per cent
More than 2,300 tests were performed on 710 samples, producing over 286,000 results. The study targeted foods commonly consumed by children aged 2 to 15 years, with a focus on foods marketed for school lunches such as cookies, crackers and dried fruit, as well as cereal, dairy, fruit and vegetable based products.
All samples were analyzed for pesticide residues and 20 different metals. Survey results for metals were reviewed by Health Canada and were considered to be consistent with the low levels of metals observed in previous surveys of retail foods. No safety concerns were identified and Health Canada used this data to update its dietary exposure assessments for certain metals. Two samples exceeded established maximum pesticide residue limits; however, neither was found to pose a health concern. Therefore, no recalls were required as a result of this survey.
