OTTAWA—Any way you slice it, food safety is the key issue for consumers at home and abroad when they're buying groceries, says Jean-Charles Le Vallee, Associate Director of Food Horizons Canada (FHC),“Food safety is the first question a foreign buyer will ask,” Lavelle told the Senate agriculture committee. “If they want to import to this country, it's non-negotiable. Food safety is always top priority. Chinese love our products because they know it is safe. That's one of the main reasons they trust our products.”He said that a food safety study done in 2014 comparing 17 OECD countries ranked Canada tied with Ireland as first in the world on food safety performance.Based on research conducted by FHC, a division of the Conference Board of Canada, Le Vallee said Canada has a good international reputation for the quality of its food products but “that doesn't mean we can rest on our laurels.European countries tend to downplay Canada's food safety accomplishments “because they need to promote their own products,” he said. “But we have a strong reputation worldwide and we should use that in our favour; the Canadian brand, not a provincial but Canadian brand.”Le Vallee has been working with the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute on an upcoming report on measures the Canadian food industry needs to take to increase export and domestic sales.“The world needs more Canada,” he said. “Canadian companies face a key strategic choice to engage this challenge of feeding the world's projected 9.5 billion population by 2050. We compare that with Canada's population, which by 2050 might be 50 million or 53 million. Much of the demand for food will be from outside Canada, not domestic.“As the world demands more food, there will be pressure on Canada to respond through greater engagement with the world. There are many possible issues as Canada's government defines the food economy policy for industry, value-added growth and viability.”With its domestic market close to saturated, global export markets offer Canada's value-added sector greater opportunities for growth, he said. Europe, China and India are among the potential big growth markets.Canada already has an outsized share of global trade pork, canola oil, beef and frozen potatoes and has growth potential in animal feed, bakeries, processed fruit and vegetables, produce, grains, seafood, sugar and confectionery products, he said.What holds up food processors from pursing growth opportunities is a lack of financial resources for developing suitable processed products, he said. Among the solutions is greater supply chain integration and economies of scale.It wold also assist companies if Health Canada was quicker with pre-market approvals so Canadian companies are not left behind when the U.S. and Europe recognizes a product, he said.“One last item is to modernize our food regulations. A lot of them are outdated. The regulatory burden can be quite high and eat into a firm's ability to export for more value-added products in the global market.”Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.