Saskatoon-based food safety organization gets funding from Ottawa

A roughly half-million dollar investment by the federal government will go toward making testing more efficient for a Saskatoon-based food safety organization.

Prairie Diagnostic Services Inc. will receive $549,278 from Ottawa for new equipment to "expand and modernize'' its testing efficiency.

The announcement was made Tuesday morning at the University of Saskatchewan's Western College of Veterinary Medicine.

Brad Trost, MP for Saskatoon-Humboldt, said the funding will help veterinarians, livestock and feed producers and exporters to be able to better ensure Canada's food safety both domestically and abroad.

Trost added the new equipment will help with bacteriology, toxicology, pathology and food testing.

Jenny Fricke, a poultry extension veterinarian in the college, said the new equipment will shorten turnaround time as she deals with diagnosing bacterial infections such as E. coli and salmonella.