The Government of Alberta says it is working to implement recommendations regarding food safety in childcare facilities. (Photo: Oksun70 | Dreamstime.com)

By David Opinko

Alberta taking action to make food in childcare centres safer

Jul 29, 2024 | 2:25 PM

The Government of Alberta says it will work to implement a series of recommendations on how to ensure food served in childcare facilities in safe.

In August 2023, an outbreak of E. Coli occurred at 11 licensed facilities in Calgary, which resulted in 359 lab-confirmed cases. A total of 38 children and one adult were hospitalized.

In light of the outbreak, the province established the Food Safety and Licensed Facility-Based Child Care Review Panel to create guidelines for how similar situations can be avoided in the future.

Premier Danielle Smith says situations like the one in Calgary simply cannot happen again.

“The review panel we set in place has done important work to review the overall outbreak situation to provide recommendations to prevent a similar outbreak from happening. It’s our government’s intention to act on every recommendation we can to protect children’s safety and to restore trust in the system,” says Smith.

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The panel has since come back with 12 primary recommendation and 27 sub-recommendations, all centered around the themes of:

• Fostering a culture of food safety that supports high-quality, safe and healthy learning environments for children
• Public policy, legislation and inspection systems for food safety
• System alignment and integration

A release from the Alberta Government states that work is already underway to increase the frequency of inspections at childcare and food distribution facilities, as well as to improve response times in childcare centres where food safety concerns have been raised.

Planning is also underway to require all licensed childcare providers to prominently post their most recent public health inspection reports for parents to review.

While some of the recommendations can be implemented right away, the government says others will be phased in over time, especially ones that could require changes to legislation. Others may require further analysis or engagement with parents, childcare staff or the food services industry.

The full report from the panel can be found on the Government of Alberta’s website.