Food safety around the world – light at the end of the tunnel

By Françoise de Goeijen, DSM

Despite regulations across Europe being tightened in order to provide a greater degree of safety assurance, problems that further erode consumer confidence still arise with almost predictable regularity. Now new solutions are becoming available and gaining acceptance on a global scale.

Salmonella problem
Salmonella is one of the most stubborn and regularly occurring problems in the food chain and has been the focus of food safety for many years. This contamination can cause intestinal discomfort, fever and even death in weak and elderly people. And each year millions of people contract Salmonellosis with an economic impact running into billions of Euros. Many Salmonella reduction programmes exist, but a workable solution has proved evasive for various reasons. These include insufficient disinfection to analytical inaccuracy.

One notable flaw has been the inability to trace the contamination accurately to its origins. Salmonella contamination can occur anywhere in the food chain; on farms and in rearing units, in factories where agricultural products are processed into feed ingredients, or complete animal feed, or anywhere bacteria have a chance to grow. In order too trace contamination accurately, specialised skill is required, so specialised laboratories are often involved where the feedback of results is very slow or serotyping is left out of the programme completely.

However, there are 2000 Salmonella subtypes or serotypes. And different Salmonella contaminations are often caused by different serotypes. Classical serological methods require well trained and experienced staff and full serotypes identification can take up to two or weeks and longer. But routine serotype-identification is important for two main reasons: first, recent EU and national requirements demand more detailed serotype-identification when positive salmonella contamination is found. Second, routine serotype- identification enables each specific cause of salmonella contamination in the food chain to be pinpointed, thus reducing salmonella contamination by taking specific appropriate sanitary measures in the specific part of the production chain, like broiler house, feed mill or hatchery.

Successful Dutch approach
As has been demonstrated in The Netherlands, excellent results have been achieved with a serotyping approach (using Premi®Test Salmonella), which is particularly significant in fighting the problem because it not only offers a speedy detection method, it also enables an exact tab to be put on the bacteria. And more significantly, it enables the source of the problem to be traced back to the hatchery, breeder flock, feed mill, grow-out farm or processing plant where the problem arose.

In addition to strict monitoring, cleaning and disinfection regimes, the Dutch approach includes preventative measures such as the successful monitoring of breeder houses, which owes much to the regular analysis and rapid serotyping of Salmonella positive samples. To avoid contamination of separate lots from other breeder houses, a special regime involving meticulous segregation has been introduced. Similar strict monitoring measures have been introduced in grow-out houses and on farms, while processing plants are subjected to strict segregation and cleaning regimes.

Daily sampling takes place at breeders and hatcheries, while at grow-out houses, protective overshoes are sampled 10 days before stock is slaughtered. Finally, in the processing phase, 30 caecal or feather, skin and meat samples are taken at every house. Over a sustained period of several years, this anti-Salmonella action programme in which serotyping has played a key role, has resulted in less than 1% occurrence of both the Salmonella enteritidis and typhimurium bacteria, and a fall in overall contamination from 35% to 6% – conclusive evidence of a successful anti-Salmonella strategy.

European Union regulations and guidelines now require regular monitoring in the production chain for all foods of animal origin. In this regulation, serotyping is required for five strains mostly involved in illnesses related to Salmonella contamination. In the coming years more, and finally all, strains will be added to this list.

To support fast testing for serotyping DSM introduced a new product, the Premi ®Test Salmonella, to pinpoint the serotype in the food chain. Premitest Salmonella is a combined detection and identification method for Salmonella. Premitest Salmonella is a rapid, robust and easy to perform test and it recognizes more than 70 of the most important Salmonella serotypes. It will support integrators to further decrease the Salmonella contamination in the chain.

Faster and more reliable general screening
A fast and effective antibiotic residue-screening test for antimicrobial substances in fresh meat, fish and eggs is also available in the form of Premi ®Test. This is not only easy to use and cost-effective, it offers meat, fish and egg integrators a significant improvement for their on-site screening regimes. It can also be used to test animal urine, giving farmers, breeders and veterinarians a quick and inexpensive way to reliably screen livestock before sending them to the abattoir, as well as to test animal feed for anti-microbial substances before being fed to livestock.

Usage increasing on a global scale
Spearheaded by Europe, which has pioneered the validation and usage of Premi â Test, many countries throughout the world are showing their eagerness to embrace the new and innovative screening tests now available. In North and South America, the Middle East and Far East, India and South Africa, there has been significant acceptance and validations of the test, while acceptance in Russia and the USA is moving forward very quickly for antibiotic screening. Moreover, Salmonella serotyping is now regarded as THE solution for salmonella contamination throughout the food chain.

Total concept for eggs
Feed and food analysis plays an important part in an integrated approach to food safety. And supporting food manufacturers’ efforts in this respect is a unique, integrated approach to egg production and processing that has also been introduced to help egg processors and manufacturers effectively meet the combined challenges of guaranteed product safety, quality and value throughout the production chain.

C rucial to their success and to restore confidence in today’s food industry, the approach comprises a range of DSM products that deliver significant advantages, including considerable economic benefits, at every stage of the egg production process – from animal nutrition through to diagnostics and processing.

In addition to the reliable diagnostic testing equipment in the form of Premi ®Test kits for fast and reliable screening of antibiotic residues and antimicrobial substances, it includes state-of the art processing enzymes to improve whole egg and egg yolk emulsification properties and to desugar egg products before spray drying, advanced animal nutrition ingredients to improve animal health, welfare and performance, and other tools to increase the value of egg products for the food industry.

Such initiatives not only add value to the food chain by offering stakeholders innovative solutions based on safety, traceability and quality, they help to optimize animal health and productivity while reducing the environmental impact of farming.

About DSM
DSM creates innovative products and services in Life Sciences and Materials Sciences that contribute to the quality of life. DSM’s products and services are used globally in a wide range of markets and applications, supporting a healthier, more sustainable and more enjoyable way of life. End markets include human and animal nutrition and health, personal care, pharmaceuticals, automotive, coatings and paint, electrics and electronics, life protection and housing. DSM has annual sales of almost EUR 8.8 billion and employs some 23,000 people worldwide. The company is headquartered in the Netherlands, with locations on five continents. DSM is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. More information about DSM can be found at www.dsm.com.