US blocks another Canadian rapeseed crushing plant

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has shut down imports from an Alberta crushing plant due to salmonella bacteria in the product.

On April 1, the FDA has added a red flag to ADM Agri- Industries' Lloydminster facility in Alberta province, making it the sixth Canadian facility since September to have its shipments stopped at the border.

Canada is the world's top exporter of rapeseed, prized for its oil content. More than 75% of Canada's rapeseed meal, about 1.8 million tonnes per year, is exported to the US and used primarily as animal feed by dairy farmers.

Exports to the US of rapeseed meal have dropped by as much as 45%, or 800,000 tonnes, since last year as rules around the bacterium tightened.

ADM Agri-Industries has conducted internal testing, and is working with the FDA to address the issue, according to a company spokesman.

Meanwhile, discussions on ADM's Windsor, Ontario, crushing plant are ongoing since the facility was given an alert status mid-December.

Increased concerns about food safety in the US have led to more stringent interpretations of regulations on salmonella bacterium in rapeseed meal and higher numbers of import alerts being issued.