TheMeatSite Newsletter - 11 April 2012

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: World Food Prices Stable

World food prices in March remained virtually unchanged from their February levels, according to the latest FAO Food Price Index, published last week. The Index averaged 216 points in March, compared to 215 in February.

According to FAO, among the various commodity groups, only oils prices showed strength, whereas dairy prices fell.

The FAO Meat Price Index averaged 178 points in March, up marginally from the previous month, sustained by a slight rise of bovine meat price but still reaching an all time high.

Prices of pig meat and sheep meat changed little, while they weakened in the case of poultry amid slowing import demand and generally ample export availabilities. On average, meat prices in the first quarter were 3.5 per cent higher than last year.

In Europe, slaughter pig markets were stable and the numbers going through to slaughter were sufficient despite the Easter holidays.

In France, the quantities on offer are reported to be slightly down as fewer pigs were demanded over the holidays in France, but prices held to last week's levels.

In Spain, the market was also reported to be well balanced. There, the price has been fixed for a period of two weeks before Easter.

Just as in Germany, no change in prices was seen in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Austria.

A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Arizona State University has found evidence suggesting that a class of antibiotics previously banned by the US government for poultry production is still in use.

The study, conducted by the Bloomberg School’s Center for a Livable Future and Arizona State’s Biodesign Institute, looked for drugs and other residues in feather meal, a common additive to chicken, swine, cattle and fish feed.

The most important drugs found in the study were fluoroquinolones—broad-spectrum antibiotics used to treat serious bacterial infections in people, particularly those infections that have become resistant to older antibiotic classes.

The banned drugs were found in eight out of 12 samples of feather meal.

The findings were a surprise to scientists because fluoroquinolone use in US poultry production was banned by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2005.

This is the first time investigators have examined feather meal, a byproduct of poultry production made from poultry feathers, to determine what drugs poultry may have received prior to their slaughter and sale.

In Viet Nam, farming authorities announced last week that many samples taken from pork, pigs and their feed nationwide tested positive for banned steroids.

The results came from nine Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development laboratories as part of a large-scale investigation following a 29 February Thanh Nien report, which said that illegal growth-promoting beta-agonist agents were being used by many pig farmers in Dong Nai Province, a major pig and pork supplier in southern Viet Nam.

According to the ministry, 4.8 per cent of the animal feed samples taken from the southern region showed traces of the agents - ractopamine and salbutamol, as did 11 per cent of animal drug samples and 4.4 per cent of pork and pig livers.

Chris Harris

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 6 new features this week:

Antibiotic Resistance in Salmonella: Animals May not be Major Source
Contrary to some established views, the local animal population is unlikely to be the major source of resistance diversity for Salmonella Typhimurium DT104 in humans in Scotland, according to a study. The researchers suggest that a broader approach to fighting antibiotic resistance is needed, which goes beyond focusing solely on curbing the use of antibiotics in domestic animal populations.

Fat Replacers Market Booming in US
Increasing health concerns, ageing population, mounting demand from end-use markets and alarming rise in obesity levels are triggering growth in thethe US fat replacers market.

China’s Pork Industry: Looking Forward
China’s status as a major pork importer will likely continue to grow, forecast Fred Gale, Daniel Marti and Dinghuan Hu in the final part of their report entitled ‘China’s Volatile Pork Industry’ from the USDA Economic Research Service.

Pathogenic Potential to Humans of Bovine Escherichia coli O26
Although Shiga toxin-producing E. coli O26 is a major cause of hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) in continental Europe, human infection with this pathogen is uncommon in Scotland and has resulted in less severe illness.

Effects of Low Protein Diet on Broiler Meat
Sequential feeding of nitrogen – by feeding a low-protein diet – impacted environmental and welfare measures but had negative effects on feed efficiency and some meat traits, according to new research from Italy.

Trichinellosis in Developing Countries: is it Neglected?
It is time to recognise the severity of this food-borne parasitic diseases and provide the resources to find a solution to a controllable situation where the disease occurs, according to Dr Bruschi of the University of Pisa.