February 2023 - Climate change impacts on Canada’s food supply cold chain

CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON CANADA’S FOOD SUPPLY COLD CHAIN 2 This document presents the findings of an evidence synthesis of academic and grey literature on the effects of climate change on the FSCC, and resulting impacts to food safety and quality. [...] Food not kept at an adequate temperature is more likely to spoil and have a reduced shelf life, contributing to food loss and waste.3 An estimated 35.5 million metric tons of food in Canada is wasted annually, and 32% of the waste is avoidable.3 This amount of food waste is especially concerning in light of rising food prices and rates of food insecurity in Canada. [...] In 2021, nearly 16% of Canadians experienced some level of food insecurity.4 The food supply cold chain The process of maintaining temperature of a perishable food product from harvest or processing to the consumer is called the FSCC (see Table 1 for the stages of the FSCC). [...] In the case of Campylobacter, for example, the presence of the bacteria in chicken products at retail was significantly correlated with higher monthly average temperatures.11 The detection of a foodborne pathogenic bacteria at retail (and not earlier in the FSCC) suggests that compromised temperature maintenance during the storage, transportation, or retail stages of the FSCC may be contributing t. [...] In light of the known impacts of climate change on food production, it is necessary to optimize the safety and quality of the foods that make it to market.