TheMeatSite Newsletter - 21 November 2012

Welcome to this week's newsletter

Editorial: Antibiotics in Focus

The question of the use of antibiotics and their residues in meat and food products has been the focus of debate in the European Parliament this week and was also a dominant theme at the EuroTier exhibition in Hanover last week.

At the weekend, the industry examined the role of antibiotics in food production on European Antibiotic Awareness day.

At EuroTier, Dr Hans-Joachim Götz, President of the Federal Association of Practising Veterinarians (Bundesverband Praktizierender Tierärzte e.V. - bpt) said that the law over antibiotic use "needs to make sense".

The German veterinary organisation said that there needs to be monitoring and benchmarking of future antibiotic use in order to reduce the volume used in food animals, as well as the separation of drug sales from prescription and administration.

But Professor Manfred Kietzmann of the veterinary institute on Hanover reiterated the assertion that as long as retailers and consumers apply such pressure to keep food prices low, farmers and their veterinarians have little choice but to take the cheapest option in their decision-making on all aspects of production - including the use of antibiotics - consistent with the law.

In a major shift this week, Europe's leading meat processor VION Foods is to set a new course by selling off its UK assets and concentrating on its businesses in the Netherland and Germany and its food ingredients business.

The company had already announced the closure of one of its pork processing plants at Halls of Broxburn in Scotland and now the rest of the UK assets are up for sale - largely including the former business of Grampian Country Foods.

On the global markets, a change in the European Union's quota system is now offering new opportunities to meat producers in Australia.

A new quarterly application for quotas will allow exporters more flexibility and see less likelihood of quotas not being met and lost.

Chris Harris

This Week's Feature Articles

We have 4 new features this week:

Europe Needs Stronger EFSA and Stronger Risk Assessment Community
Europeans enjoy among the highest standards of food safety in the world, and according to the European Food Safety Authority's Executive Director, the authority intends to preserve and build on that record.

Law Changing on Slaughter of Poultry
New legislation designed to protect the welfare of animals at the time of slaughter comes into effect on 1 January 2013 across the European Union.

AVEC Annual Report 2012: Food and Feed Safety
Progress on the implementation of the Salmonella standards, campylobacteriosis, Mechanically Separated Meat (MSM), Processed Animal Proteins (PAPs) and Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) is described Annual Report 2012 of AVEC, the Association of Poultry Processors and Poultry Trade in the EU Countries.

Transmission of Campylobacter in Broilers
Dutch research has revealed that acidification of the drinking water can reduce the transmission of C. jejuni between birds. The treatment is equally effective when applied to the sender or receiver groups but there was a significant negative interaction when both groups received acidified water.

Market Reports

» Utilisation of milk by dairies in England and Wales - November 2012
» NAB Rural Commodities Wrap - October 2012
» National Dairy Products Sales Report - 16 November 2012
» Canadian Aquaculture Statistics 2011
» USDA Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlook - November 2012
» Irish CSO: Agricultural Price Indices - September 2012
» October Milk Production down slightly
» USDA Catfish Processing - November 2012
» USDA Catfish Feed Deliveries - November 2012
» USDA International Egg and Poultry: Saudi Arabia

Company News

Clip-tube Wins German Packaging Award
GERMANY - In the category Sales Packages, Poly-clip System won the renowned German Packaging Award 2012 with its new and clever packaging solution, clip-tube.

Global Meat Industry News