Integrated risk reduction along the food chain

Abstract

Animal health is the crucial first part of the food chain and must be considered when developing the controls or preventative measures for an endemic or emerging zoonotic food-borne diseases. Increasing the number of complementary control measures at various points along the food processing chain results in overall risk reduction and improved safety of products for the domestic markets and trade. In addition, a risk assessment must be made and surveillance implemented. Measures require sufficient infrastructure within veterinary services, and must be controlled and re-evaluated periodically. The system must be communicated to stakeholders in order to improve compliance as well as confidence from domestic consumers, trading partners, and the international community. Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and avian influenza (AI) can be used as examples for implementation of these control concepts.