February 24/Ottawa, Ontario/Marketwire --- As part of its commitment to protect the health and safety of Canadians, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced it will begin issuing e-mail notifications for all classes of allergy recalls.

All Class I, II and III allergen recalls will now be emailed to subscribers, in addition to the existing practice of being posted on the CFIA website. This measure is being implemented in order to strengthen the CFIA's ability to communicate recall information to Canadians with food allergies.

"The majority of food available in Canada is very safe, but Canadians living with severe food allergies can experience serious and life-threatening reactions to products containing undeclared allergens in otherwise safe foods," said the Gerry Ritz, minister of agriculture and agri-food. "This government is taking all steps necessary to provide consumers with special needs the information and tools they need to buy food for themselves and their families that is safe."

Anyone interested in receiving email notifications when products are recalled can register on the CFIA's website.

For more information, consumers can call the CFIA at 1-800-442-2342 / TTY 1-800-465-7735 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday to Friday) or visit the CFIA's website at www.inspection.gc.ca. Food and consumer product recalls are also available at http://www.healthycanadians.gc.ca.

From the March 7, 2011, Prepared Foods E-dition