Government, industry plan for food shortage during flu pandemic

Food industry representatives will meet with government officials today to strategize about ways of getting food to Canadian stomachs in the event of a flu pandemic.

While much pandemic preparedness has been focused on the health sector, government documents say grocery-store shelves could be emptied if the long-anticipated global influenza were to strike hard and fast.

Worst-case scenarios suggest the disease could take out a third of the work force, borders could close and transportation lines could shut down.

"In a modern-day, just-in-time food-supply chain, also drawing inputs and ingredients from across the world, such [a] pandemic would not only have severe public-health implications but also pose significant economic impacts and challenges across the entire agri-food continuum," says a federal discussion guide written last year.

from the Toronto Globe and Mail