Food Toxicology and Chemical Surveillance

Question 1

What are the key roles of a farm vet?

Answer 1

• Animal health
• Animal welfare
• Public health: food safety and zoonosis

Question 2

All chemicals are potential poisons, so what differentiates a poison from a remedy?

Answer 2

Dose

Question 3

Describe the risk assessment for chemicals as hazards

Answer 3

Source-pathway-receptor

• Source = chemical of concern (hazard identification & characterisation)
• Pathway = the way the chemical comes into contact with the animal, population, air, land, water, food (exposure assessment)
• Receptor = the animal, person or population (necessary for risk characterisation)

Question 4

What are the roles of vets in chemical surveillance?

Answer 4

• Farm animal vets
• FSA/Official veterinarians (abattoirs)
• Government vets (CVOs, Defra, APHA)
• Small animal vets (pet food)

Question 5

What are the main chemicals/toxins found in:

• Agricultural products
• Veterinary products

Answer 5

• Pesticides and fungicides

- Antibiotics, hormones

Question 6

How are chemical hazards identified?

Answer 6

Screening programmes:
- Routine (compliance)
- Following events requiring an emergency response
- Targeted surveillance
- For known hazards
Animal (and human) disease outbreaks:
- Acute and chronic
- Scanning surveillance
- Used to detect ‘unexpected’ & ‘previously unknown’ hazards

Question 7

What is scanning surveillance?

Answer 7

The ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and the dissemination of information to those who need to know in order to take action
Data -> information -> decision making