More food regulations not needed in light of Calgary E. coli outbreak: law professors

A pair of Calgary law professors say the food safety laws already on the books need to be better enforced, without being hamstrung by political desires to cut 'red tape.'

Kate Maxwell wants to know why, despite multiple inspections of a kitchen thought to be the source of the Calgary daycare E. coli outbreak, it was allowed to continue operating. Maxwell’s son was part of that outbreak.

“I just don’t understand what has to happen for someone to lose their (operating) license. Like, at what point do we need to harm the children to have a license revoked? It just doesn’t make sense to me,” Maxwell told Global News.

Maxwell’s sentiment mirrors one penned by a pair of law professors in Calgary: new regulations aren’t needed in light of the Calgary daycare E. coli outbreak that infected hundreds of children.

Instead, they say the laws already on the books need to be better enforced, efforts that were hamstrung by an “obsession… with cutting ‘red tape’ (aka regulations).”

But one professor who studies food safety says another option could be a better use of resources.

In a Monday post on the University of Calgary’s faculty of law ABlawg, Shaun Fluker and Lorian Hardcastle argue the existing food safety regulations in the province, as well as the powers under the Public Health Act, are sufficient to prevent outbreaks like the one declared in Calgary that saw 349 people infected by Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.

“This is not a case of missing regulations, as the premier has suggested,” Fluker and Hardcastle wrote. “Rather, this is more likely to be an implementation problem – as has been observed by public health experts who say more rigorous inspections of these establishments are needed.”

Premier Danielle Smith said the government is reviewing all shared kitchens that serve child-care facilities, with a possible result in changes or additions to legislation.