Group calls on Health Canada to make labels mandatory for gene-edited pork

HALIFAX — An advocacy group of farmers and environmental organizations wants Health Canada to implement mandatory labelling on pork from gene-edited pigs.

Earlier this year, the federal agency approved the sale of gene-edited pigs as food. The pigs are resistant to Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus, called PRRSV-resistant pigs.

“It is expected that by addressing PRRSV in pigs, farmers can prevent severe illness and death in their herds, reduce the need for antibiotics, and improve animal welfare,” Health Canada said in an email to The Canadian Press.

In January, Health Canada released a statement saying that the pigs do not “pose a greater risk to human health than pigs currently available,” and added that there are “no differences in the nutritional value of the PRRSV-resistant pigs compared to other pigs.”

“Because Health Canada found no health or safety concerns, no special labelling is required for foods from these PRRSV-resistant pigs,” the agency said.

In fact, aside from deleting one part of the gene susceptible to infection by PRRSV, the pigs are identical to other pigs on Canadian farms now, Health Canada says.

But that is the issue, says Lucy Sharratt, coordinator with the Canadian Biotechnoloy Action Network.

“If (a gene-edited pig) is actually introduced into the market, Canadians won’t know where it is on grocery store shelves,” Sharratt said in an interview.

“Public opinion polls in Canada show that over 80 per cent of Canadians simply want to know where genetically engineered foods are,” Sharratt said. “It’s been 25 years now that genetically engineered foods have been on the market somewhere, and yet people still want labelling.”

Canadian law does not require labels to identify genetically engineered foods, but there is a voluntary standard for companies that choose to label their food.

If the pork does make it to stores, it would be the only genetically modified meat for sale in Canada, CBAN says.

A letter sent to federal Minister of Health Marjorie Michel last week says that mandatory labelling is “essential” because the technology that created the PRRSV-resistant pigs could lead to other gene-edited foods being approved for retail sale.

While the group criticizes voluntary labelling as ineffective, it says it will become worse in coming months as the Canadian General Standards Board, the organization responsible for the labelling standards, is closing March 31. The letter states the fate of the standards isn’t clear.

“The government’s referring Canadians to voluntary labelling while dismantling the institute that houses that labelling standard,” Sharratt said in a statement on CBAN’s website.

The letter was signed by members of Canadian Biotechnology Action Network, National Farmers Union, Safe Food Matters and others.

René Roy, chair of the Canadian Pork Council and a pork producer based in Quebec, says he doesn’t think consumers want the genetically engineered pork on their plates. He says he will not breed PRRSV-resistant pigs on his own farm.

“We do not feel confident that the consumer, not only Canadians but also the rest of the world, would be comfortable buying the product. That’s how we’re feeling right now.”

Some are worried the introduction of genetically engineered pork to the market will make it harder to keep the trust of consumers unless they choose to label their own pork.

Quebec-based duBreton has been certified organic in both the U.S. and Canada, and animal welfare certified. The company’s president, Vincent Breton, says for producers who feel the need to prove their pork is not genetically engineered will come with a cost.

If labelling is solely the choice of companies, “then it’s on us to prove that (our pork) is not using that technology,” he said.

“It’s not fair that people not using the technology will now have the expenses to prove they’re not using it.”

Both Sharratt and Breton say that they aren’t necessarily against the technology itself. They just want customers to be able to choose what they’re buying.

Health Canada says their safety assessment of genetically modified foods has been developed over two decades through consultation with agencies like the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

As part of their assessment, Health Canada evaluated data provided by Genus PLC, the company producing the PRRSV-resistant pigs. The health agency says “the use of company-generated data to perform pre-market assessments is a standard scientific method of evaluation used by regulators around the world.”

The agency also says that their scientists conducted “thorough analysis of the data and protocols provided by the applicant to ensure the validity of the results.”

That Health Canada doesn’t share what data it analyzed or how it came to its conclusions is a problem for Sharratt.

“We want to be able to trust Health Canada regulators,” Sharratt says. “Part of trust is transparency. Over 25 years, there has been a serious problem with regulation being undertaken behind closed doors.”

Health Canada notes that Genus PLC is also permitted to sell PRRSV-resistant pigs for food in the U.S., Brazil, Colombia and the Dominican Republic. However, there are no such pigs currently in the food system as the company “does not intend to sell these pigs before further regulatory authorization in key markets” is passed.

As Canada exports roughly 70 per cent of its pork, worth about $5.5 billion annually, it follows that any company looking to introduce new pigs into Canada would pay attention to regulations in the biggest export markets as well.

However, if and when Genus PLC decides to sell these pigs in Canada, Health Canada says “it will remain the choice of Canadian pork producers whether they wish to use these animals.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2026.

Emily Baron Cadloff, The Canadian Press