Today, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced it will implement a temporary restriction on imports of pistachios and pistachio-containing products from Iran as a precautionary measure to protect Canadians from the risk of Salmonella infection. In addition, as a condition of their Safe Food for Canadians licence, all importers of pistachios and pistachio containing products will be required to show proof that these products do not originate from Iran in order to be accepted into Canada. Shipments will be subjected to a hold and test for Salmonella or refused entry if importers do not provide this proof.
An outbreak investigation is ongoing, led by the Public Health Agency of Canada, with more than 100 laboratory-confirmed Salmonella infections in Canada and numerous food recall notifications linked to pistachio kernels and products originating from Iran.
These measures will remain in place while the CFIA analyzes information from the food safety investigation, ongoing surveillance and inspections of importers.
The CFIA will continue to conduct inspection activities to verify compliance. If all federal requirements are not met, importers could face enforcement actions, such as administrative monetary penalties, licence suspension or cancellation, or prosecution.
