The difference between federal and provincial inspection levels is one of scale and scope. Provincially licensed abattoirs can sell meat only within Ontario’s borders. Only facilities that are federally licensed (Rowe Beef) can export meat to other provinces and countries. 

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) enforces federal food safety regulations for both domestic and imported food. Even in a modern, effective food safety system such as Canada’s, risks cannot be completely eliminated. We are in constant communication with the CFIA and have an inspector on site at our location who performs random inspections and audits for Hazards like pesticides, bacteria and E.coli. This is a by-product of being a federally inspected purveyor.  

Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point 

HACCP is a food safety system designed to identify and control hazards * that may occur in the food production process. The HACCP approach focuses on preventing potential problems that are critical to food safety known as ‘critical control points’ (CCP) through monitoring and controlling each step of the process. 

SQF Stands for “Safe Quality Foods”. 

In addition, there are standards for food quality, the manufacture of food packaging, storage and distribution of food, and others. The organization that manages this food standard is the Safe Quality Foods Institute (SQFI). The SQF Program will guide you through the process of setting up a comprehensive food safety management system on your farm, in your warehouse or facility – and then check your work by examining your processes with an annual audit. All audits are conducted through the SQFI Audit Database. At Rowe Beef we are SQF certified since day one.

Halal food is that which adheres to Islamic law, as defined in the Koran. The Islamic form of slaughtering animals or poultry, dhabiha, involves killing through a cut to the jugular vein, carotid artery and windpipe. Animals must be alive and healthy at the time of slaughter and all blood is drained from the carcass.

In 2015, we took our dedication to quality one step further by becoming fully Halal Certified by the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of Canada. This certification ensures that our Halal Poultry, Lamb, and Beef are produced in compliance with the strict standards set forth by IFANCC, in our Federally Inspected and HACCP-certified facility. We are proud to offer this certification as a testament to our commitment to catering to the diverse dietary needs and preferences of our customers. 

We wet–age our beef 4-8 weeks, depending on the need and specifications of the partners. 

Marbling refers to the white flecks of intramuscular fat in each cut of meat. Marbling adds a lot of flavour and can be one indicator of how good the beef is. It impacts the tenderness, moistness, and overall flavour and has become one of the most well-known elements of steak evaluation. 

In essence, dry aging is when you take a piece of meat and put it into a controlled open-air environment to go through a flavour transformation. By exposing the meat to air, moisture is pulled out and the natural enzymes in the beef break the muscles down slowly over time, making it more tender. 

Wet-aging is essentially the opposite of the open-air process of dry-aging beef. This method of perfecting a cut of beef before cooking involves storing the beef in a Cryovac bag. From there, the meat is stored in a refrigerator for 14 days or longer at around 35 degrees Fahrenheit.