Pre harvest food risks - what are they? Flashcards
What does the term pre-harvest refer to?
Prior to the collection of animal products e.g. feed, housing, hygiene and treatments
What things are at risk?
Food safety
Animal health
Animal welfare
What are the objectives of the following at farm level?
a) Risk assessment
b) Risk management
a) Identify hazards, prioritise them and evaluate management strategies
b) To reduce or prevent the risk related to a hazard
What is the goal of pre-harvest food safety?
To minimise the risk of foodborne illness
What is a risk pathway?
The sequence of events that can lead to an outcome - can be used in risk management
What are the types of hazards in animal-derived food?
Biological
Chemical
Physical
What activities/processes on the farm could go wrong?
Feeding practices & feed production
Veterinary Treatments
Environmental hazards
general husbandry/hygiene
What sources of hazards could there be?
Animals Personel Wildlife Insects Environment Feed
What are common pre-harvest hazards?
Production disease (e.g. mastitis) Husbandry systems: feed, air quality, space, social groups Medicine residues TB Brucella Parasites Salmonella Campylobacter Ysinia Staphylococci Listeria
What things could contaminate food and water?
Pesticides
Fungicides
Environmental Contaminants
Pathogens
How do varying husbandry practices affect farm hazards?
May increase/decrease likelihood of INTRODUCING a hazard or it may increase/decrease the likelihood of SPREADING (within farm) a hazard
How can improving animal welfare affect pre-harvest food safety?
Decreased immunnosuppresion
Reduce infectious disease incidence
Reduce shedding
Therefore reduce antibiotic usage and resistance
What are the main hazards in the dairy industry?
Milk - TB, salmonella, brucella
Cheese - Listeria
What are the main hazards to food safety in the poultry industry?
Chicken - campylobacter, salmonella
Eggs - Salmonella
Why is feed surveiled for salmonella and in which species is this compulsory?
Feed can be contaminated with salmonella
Statutory in poultry industry but many pig farms are also survayed carefully.
What constitutes a salmonella ‘incident’ and why is this term used?
Incident = the first isolation and all those following it (of the same serovar) in a particular animal/premises within 30 days
This term is needed as multiple isolates could be taken from multiple samples on the same farm.
What are routes of human infection for E. coli?
Consumption of contaminated food/water
Direct contact with animals or their faeces
Person-person spread
What is the main reservoir of E. coli in the UK and what makes its identification difficult?
Cattle.
Hard to spot as animals often don’t show clinical signs
Why might the risk of harvesting eggs and milk be increased compared to other animal products?
Harvesting takes place on the farm
What is the checklist for assessing food safety on farm?
Feed Water animal purchasing biosecurity Hygiene in husbandry Animal health use of medicines hygienic harvest conditions hygienic storage conditions
