Canadian Research Coalition for Safe Food and Water

Participants in the Oct. 31, 2002, meeting of the Canadian Research Coalition for Safe Food and Water. Seated, from left to right: John ApSimon, Kim Elmslie, Primal Silva, Judith Bray, Lorne Babiuk, Carol Richardson. Standing, from left to right, Mansell Griffiths, Paul Sockett, Michelle Gagnon, Steve Leach, Lynda Wood, Jim Richards, Catherine Armour, Grahame Farquhar, Linda Poste-Flynn, Ying Gravel, Gordon Dittberner, Mohamed Karmali, David Rideout, Marc Ouellette, Bruce Moor, Tess Laidlaw. Missing from photo: Bonnie Jean MacDonald, Patrick Haag. For a complete list of partners see below.

Food safety is an issue that touches the minds and lives of virtually all Canadians. In fact, 74 per cent of Canadians are concerned about food safety, according to a 2001 Ipsos-Reid poll, and nearly half of those said they were "very concerned." So when Dr. Judith Bray, Institute of Infection and Immunity Assistant Director, Special Projects, invited leaders in Canada's food and water research and industry sectors to join the Institute in developing a research coalition in the area, they were all supportive. From that initial response grew the 15-member Canadian Research Coalition for Safe Food and Water.

At the group's anniversary meeting on Oct. 31, 2002, a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was distributed to the partners, who are all stakeholder groups either funding research in this area, or having strong interest in and commitment to ensuring the safety of Canada's food and water. The agreement represents the partners' willingness to support, according to the MOU, "cooperation in the research agenda of science and technology related to food and water safety in Canada."

The Canadian Water Network (CWN), a Network of Centres of Excellence, is one of the partners in the coalition. "We are interested in the whole aspect of creating and delivering safe, clean water to Canadians," says Dr. Grahame Farquhar, Associate Director. The CWN currently includes over 112 scientists representing 29 Canadian universities. Many of these scientists served as technical and scientific advisors to Justice O' Connor during the Walkerton inquiry, which resulted in recommendations for improvements to water treatment, inspection and delivery systems in Ontario.

The CWN is but one example of the 15 partners in the coalition, and an indicator of the sheer volume of skill and knowledge represented. The partners bring diverse expertise across a broad range of issues relating to safe food and water. Discussion at the most recent meeting of the coalition touched on expansion, as already additional organizations are interested in joining. As well, the coalition, meant to build upon individual partners' capacities and encourage joint projects among the partners, has attracted international interest.

Food and water safety issues span myriad research questions. Dr. Scott McEwen, an expert advisor to a variety of governmental and nongovernmental organizations in North America and Europe on food safety, antibiotic resistance and epidemiology, describes it as an immensely broad and encompassing area. "There are so many dimensions to it, from trying to control pathogens on the farm, through slaughter, processing, distribution, and finally to food service or home consumption." Also, new emerging pathogens arising from global climate change, shifting population demographics, increased globalization and the threat of bioterrorism add additional research challenges. McEwen, a professor in the Department of Population Medicine at the University of Guelph, adds that the nature of food and water safety problems demands an equally broad and encompassing range of multidisciplinary approaches to research that involves microbiology, molecular biology, epidemiology, and toxicology, as well as food science, engineering, and risk analysis.

Partners in the Canadian Research Coalition for Safe Food and Water attended an anniversary meeting Oct. 31, 2002 at Wilson House, Meech Lake, to discuss a path for the year ahead.

Even before the deaths of seven people from an E. coli 0157:H7 (the etiologic agent of the more commonly known "hamburger disease") outbreak in Walkerton, Ont. in May 2000, several million research dollars were being directed to the area every year. But the research communities have been too insular, says one of Canada's leading researchers in the area. "I think there's already quite a bit being done but there's little communication or co-ordination among the groups," says Dr. Brett Finlay, professor in the Biotechnology Laboratory at the University of British Columbia, the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. "I would like to see communication among all the players. That always leads to better research questions and better ways of actually addressing them."

Finlay, whose research focuses on the mechanisms by which bacterial pathogens cause disease at a molecular level, was one of the organizers of an initial food safety workshop designed to bring together scientists from Canadian universities, government departments, and industry. Supported by the Medical Research Council and Health Canada, the workshop took place in June 2000, coincidentally just days after Canada learned about the events in Walkerton. The participants came together to discuss Canada's food safety issues as they relate to research, and to galvanize the formation of a national research network.

CANADIAN RESEARCH COALITION FOR SAFE FOOD AND WATER

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
Canadian Agri-Food Research Council
Canadian Aquaculture Industry Alliance
Canadian Bacterial Diseases Network*
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Canadian Pork Council
Canadian Veterinary Medical Association
Canadian Water Network*
Chicken Farmers of Canada
Environment Canada
Genome Canada
Health Canada
National Research Council Canada
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

* A Network of Centres of Excellence

Several priorities representing Canada's needs in food and water safety research evolved from the workshop. Passed on to the Institute of Infection and Immunity, these recommendations became the basis for the Institute's initiatives in the area-including the formation of a research coalition.

The two research initiatives that have already been launched include a Needs, Gaps and Opportunities Assessment Grant launched in May 2002, supported by CIHR-III, the CIHR Knowledge Translation Branch, the CWN and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, to provide an environmental scan of current research in the areas of microbial contamination of food and water and antimicrobial resistance in the food chain. In November 2002, a major Request for Applications (RFA) was launched, supported by III, the CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health, and five federal departments (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Environment Canada, Health Canada, and the National Research Council Canada). The RFA targets the creation of new research teams between federal and university researchers, focused on addressing common or synergistic research questions. Finlay points to the requirement for partnerships as a unique aspect of this RFA. "By making you have partners, you bring other people in who have their own questions, and then you work together towards developing common questions and trying to figure out how to actually answer those questions."

The Institute's initiatives in this area complement CIHR's establishment of a national research agenda for the influences of the environment on health, one of nine CIHR cross-cutting strategic initiatives. After national consultation, review of the field nationally and internationally, and a national forum, CIHR arrived at outcomes that included a recognized need for investigation into the effects of hazards in the environment, including microbiological agents and climate change, on human health. A major Environmental Influences on Health RFA is being developed for launch in 2003.

Researchers in the U.S. and the U.K. have historically had more funding avenues open to them than Canadian researchers. McEwen says it's no surprise that, for example, the U.S. has been a leader in developing techniques for risk analysis-both the scientific basis for health risk and policy- related issues-and the U.K. has led in studying the mathematical aspects of transmission dynamics of infectious agents. While it can benefit from this expertise, "Canada should have its own capabilities in these things, and I think that's one of the areas that is most critical to build up-our capabilities in terms of highly trained personnel," says McEwen.

McEwen is glad to see CIHR investing research dollars in food and water safety. "It's extremely encouraging for those of us who work in these areas that CIHR thinks this is important. We hope it's a long-standing commitment."