Canada-Environmental News Network-Canada to crack down on unsafe toys, food, drugs

OTTAWA (Reuters) – Reacting to a recent series of toy, food and drug recalls, the Canadian government pledged tighter regulations on Monday to try to prevent such problems in the future. “As we head into the holidays, there’s growing concern about the safety of the products on the market, and for good reason,” Prime Minister Stephen Harper told a news conference at a Salvation Army toy depot.

“We’ve all seen the stories in the news — lead-tainted children’s jewelry, tainted toothpaste, toxic toys — and even worse are some incidents involving food and drugs,” he said, mentioning contaminated California spinach and Merck & Co’s worldwide recall of the painkiller Vioxx….more…