Quality and animal welfare are two conditions sine qua non of an impeccable meat market. Consumer confidence is based on the probity and professionalism of a channel that we know is closely monitored. But is it at all stages? An investigation of Duty casts legitimate doubt on the transparency surrounding an important area, that of slaughter.
Our reporter Ulysse Bergeron has gone through hundreds of inspection reports. An exceptional case stands out from the rest, that of Viandes B & B de Marieville, which brutally illustrates the limits of the Quebec approach. Claiming to be the victim of a witch hunt by the Quebec Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPAQ), the slaughterhouse is collecting shortcomings.
No less than 20 prosecutions related to hygiene and animal welfare have been filed in two years against the latter by the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions (DPCP). So far, four have led to convictions. Its owner, Benoît Bouffard, a broker specializing in the purchase and sale of cattle at auctions, is also personally in the crosshairs of the DPCP for offenses related to product quality and animal welfare.
The detail of the failings recorded at the slaughterhouse itself makes one shudder. The MAPAQ speaks of inadequate animal insensitization techniques. Repeat. Its inspectors deplore frequent seizures of moldy or sticky pieces of meat. They say they have noted a number of breaches of the standards in force over several weeks. Unclean equipment, inadequate storage, poor traceability: the litany is as long as a day without bread.
Slaughtering is a difficult industry: the work is exhausting, physically and mentally, the conditions are demanding, profitability is fragile, and the workforce is rare and volatile. Safety and health are not just its pillars, they are literally its safeguards. Because slaughterhouses require constant vigilance from their operators, none are immune to occasional deviations.
MAPAQ inspectors ensure that they do not multiply or repeat themselves. Their methods are not always well received by operators, who consider some to be ill-suited or outdated. The young Association of Inspected Slaughterhouses of Quebec was born from the desire of some to disseminate good practices in particular to ease their complicated relations with the MAPAQ.
Nothing compares, however, with the standoff that has been going on for too long with B&B Meats. Although he admits certain wrongs, his owner believes that the blame expressed during the inspections borders on relentlessness. But the repetition of blame and especially the persistence of MAPAQ in distributing them without effect suggests another story: that of a company that is poorly advised and poorly supported, certainly, but which is also not doing what is necessary to enter into the row.
MAPAQ did not want to comment on the case, which is burdened with proceedings still pending. He was barely more forthcoming about the effectiveness of his interventions in the fifty slaughterhouses under his responsibility, contenting himself with saying that “the majority of slaughtering or processing establishments comply with the regulatory framework”.
This response does not meet the expectations of breeders, distributors and butchers who, for some, have learned of the setbacks of the slaughterhouse with which they do business from Duty. Shocked, many believe that the MAPAQ should have informed them, given the persistence, abundance and seriousness of the breaches. They are absolutely right. This is what you would normally expect from a good guard dog.
MAPAQ argues that it quickly publishes all convictions. The problem is that these occur months after the filing of the procedures, or even years later. In the case of Marieville, this wait-and-see approach has a price, that of maintaining the activities of an actor with problematic practices without the parties directly concerned being alerted. This needs to be fixed. We need a register that is more in line with what is happening on the ground in real time.
We still know that butchers and wholesalers have voluntarily returned products to Viandes B & B that were deemed not to meet the expected quality standards. Some even did it repeatedly, which led them to cut ties with the slaughterhouse. Their reaction is reassuring, it means that we can trust the work of these passionate people who know how to recognize a compromise and refuse it when it jeopardizes the quality of our local market.
This is not an infallible assurance, however. While no one can say that spoiled meat has made its way onto our plates, no one can rule it out beyond any doubt either. It is a tragedy for this local industry, where it only takes one weak link for the entire chain to falter.It needs to be firmed up, and quickly. Public trust is at stake.