Table Of ContentFood safety assurance and
veterinary public health
– volume 4 –
Towards a risk-based
chain control
edited by:
Frans J.M. Smulders
Towards a risk-based chain control
Dedicated to the memories of Prof. Dr. Roberto Chizzolini, Prof. Dr. Maurizio Severini and
Dr. Jos Snijders, founding fathers of the European College of Veterinary Public Health,
whose support in establishing ECVPH will not be forgotten.
EE CC VVPPHH
Food safety assurance and
veterinary public health
– volume 4 –
Towards a risk-based
chain control
edited by:
Frans J.M. Smulders
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ISBN: 978-90-76998-97-8 www.WageningenAcademic.com
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Preface
In 2000 an Austrian/Irish consortium of scientists was awarded a considerable EU grant to
organise a series of conferences with the objective of systematically addressing public health
hazards, the prevention and control of which is a function of veterinary public health. The
format of the conference series [three consecutive events in Vienna (2001 and 2002) and
Dublin (2003)] was based on following a longitudinal approach to food quality and safety
assurance programmes. For its primary substance the conference series relied on the input of
recognised senior experts engaged at the cutting edge of research on the safety of foods of
animal origin. In addition, the EU grants allowed for supporting the participation of more
junior colleagues embarking on a career in food safety assurance and veterinary public health.
The organisers were fortunate to find Wageningen Academic Publishers who were prepared
to include all written output in a carefully edited “Food Safety Assurance and Veterinary
Public Health” book series, that was to comprise three volumes: 1) Food Safety Assurance in
the Pre-Harvest Phase, 2) Safety Assurance during Food Processing and 3) Risk Management
Strategies: Monitoring and Surveillance.
The aforementioned conferences were held at the same time the European College of Veterinary
Public Health (ECVPH) came into being and its founding fathers have taken the conference
series as an opportunity to hold ECVPH’s Annual General Meetings in parallel.
ECVPH is a veterinary specialty college with the primary objectives to advance veterinary
public health and its subspecialties population medicine and food science in Europe and
to increase the competence of those who are active in these fields by: i) establishing
guidelines for postgraduate education and training and training prequisites for specialisation
in Veterinary Public Health, ii) examining and authenticating veterinarians as specialists
in order to serve the livestock population (at both herd, region and national level), the
livestock owners and the general public, iii) encouraging research and other contributions
and promoting the communication and dissemination of knowledge, and, finally iv) improving
the quality of service to the public. Since its creation, ECVPH has recognised more than 250
veterinarians across EU Member States as Diplomate of Veterinary Public Health and hence
has become one of the largest colleges accredited by the European Board of Veterinary
Specialisation (EBVS). The interested reader is referred to ECVPH’s website (www.ecvph.org)
for additional, more detailed information.
After having issued the originally envisaged three-volume book series and in consideration of
the positive response of reviewers from the scientific press and other professional readership,
the publisher approached the editors with the request to consider continuation of the
series. This was to be based on contributions delivered during the annual general meetings
and scientific conferences of ECVPH. The Council of ECVPH decided to accept the offer.
Consequently, the readership can expect a sizeable number of additional volumes over the
next years. In accordance with the format originally chosen, these will include the edited
proceedings of ECVPH’s conferences and comprise not only the scientific keynote addresses
during these events but also the synopses of other contributions and occasionally additional
chapters written on invitation. Depending on duration and thematics it is intended to include
Towards a risk-based chain control
the output of either one or of more scientific conferences in one single volume. Hence, new
releases are expected with intervals of approximately two years.
The theme and contents of this book – volume 4 in the series – originate from a conference
held on the 22nd and 23rd of October, 2004, which was co-organised by ECVPH and the
Istituto Zooprofillatico Sperimentale delle Regioni Lazio e Toscana, under the coordination
of local organiser Dr. Romano Zilli. The conference was hosted by the Food and Agriculture
Organisation (FAO) and staged at its premises in Rome. Contributions ranged from reviews
on risk analysis in the food chain, epidemiological monitoring and surveillance in primary
production and processing of foods of animal origin, antimicrobial resistance and transfer
in these foods, to those on risk modelling and management strategies. Finally, recent food
legislation aspects were discussed.
In consideration of the time passed between conference and the release of this book, authors
have been requested to update their contributions when this was considered necessary.
On the occasion of the publication of this volume, I take the opportunity to thank a number
of individuals who over the years have been supportive of this (what turned out to be a
continuing) project. First of all, the invaluable input of my co-editor of the first three
volumes, Emeritus Prof. Dan Collins is gratefully acknowledged. His ‘seniority’ on so many
issues has been instrumental in our attempts to produce the series in a form that could truly
be considered a platform for exchange of views in the area of Veterinary Public Health and
his continuing inspiration has made the exercise challenging and gratifying. Mr. Andreas
Wunsch deserves credit for ably managing budgetary and other organisational issues of the
first three conferences and for rendering additional assistance whenever I needed it. The
Council of the European College of Veterinary Public Health is thanked for embracing the idea
of issuing the present and following volumes under the aegis of ECVPH. I am very grateful
to the various scientists for their willingness to generate well-written contributions strictly
following the rather demanding Instructions for Authors and this without complaining. Last
but not least, I thank Ms. Alexandra Bauer, Dr. Johann Hiesberger and Mr. Ronald Matky
for their help in solving formatting and word-processing problems that needed to be dealt
with before the end-result could be filed with the publisher. May our joint efforts serve the
veterinary profession in its endeavours to become even more professional.
Vienna, July, 2006
Frans J.M. Smulders
Towards a risk-based chain control
Contents
Contents
Preface 7
Frans J.M. Smulders
Keynote contributions
Risk assessment as a tool for evaluating risk management options for food safety 19
Riitta Maijala
Summary 19
1. Introduction 19
2. Risk assessment 20
3. Use of risk assessment in decision making 25
4. Conclusions 30
References 31
Food safety: A must for the food chain 33
Ivar Vågsholm
Summary 33
1. Introduction 33
2. Food safety; an economic perspective 34
3. Foodborne zoonoses 34
4. Prolongation of the food chain 36
5. Integrated food production system 38
6. Pre- and post-harvest control 40
7. Conclusions 42
References 43
Risk assessment of feed additives and contaminants 45
Alberto Mantovani and Roberto Cozzani
Summary 45
1. Feed additives and food safety 45
2. Risk assessment of feed additives in Europe 46
3. Examples of EFSA evaluation of feed additives 47
4. Risk assessment of feed contaminants in Europe 51
5. Examples of EFSA evaluations of feed contaminants 52
6. Conclusions 54
References 54
Field data availability and needs for use in microbiological risk assessment 57
John N. Sofos
Summary 57
1. Introduction 57
2. Risk analysis based pathogen control 59
3. Data gaps, needs and flow 60
Towards a risk-based chain control
