Provincial Courts in July imposed fines totaling $46,500 for violations of food safety and other laws enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Heartland Colony Farms Ltd. pled guilty to one count of Canada’s Food and Drugs Act in court in Manitoba.  A CFIA investigation found the company was unlawfully advertising or selling, or having in its possession for any such purposes, a meat product — frozen turkey carcasses — that had been sent to Manitoba from Alberta.

In Manitoba, the turkey carcasses did not comply with standards and were not packed or labelled as required.

The Manitoba judge accepted a joint recommendation for a sentence of $10,000 in fines payable within 14 days.

Manitoba courts also imposed a $1,500 fine on Rodney Checkowski for violating the Health of Animals Act.

Checkowski was charged with failing to present his animals that were located in an eradication area to be tested for tuberculosis, contravening Section 73.1 of the Health of Animals Regulations.

He was given a one year extension to pay the fine.

Champion Feed Services Ltd. pled guilty in Alberta Provincial Court to three counts of violating the Feeds Act and one court of violating the Health of Animals Act.

Judge C.D. Gardner sentenced Champion Feed Services to three fines of $10,000 each for violations of the Feeds Act, and a fine of $5,000 for violating the Health of Animals Act. The total fines, $35,000, are payable in 30 days.

A CFIA investigation led to charges after investigators found Champion was manufacturing feeds that it was not registered to produce.

The company was also found to have manufactured a feed that was not labelled as required, contrary to Section 3(1)(c) of the Feeds Act.

Champion Feed Services Ltd. also violated section 35(1) of the Health of Animals Act by obstructing or hindering a CFIA investigation by failing to furnish the inspector with the required documents to carry out the investigation.

The CFIA enforces federal legislation including the Food and Drugs Act and its regulations, the Health of Animals Act and its regulations and the Feeds Act and its regulations. 

The CFIA oversees the safety of food, animals and plants.