THE ROLE OF ANIMAL HEALTH PRODUCTS IN FOOD SAFETY

Better animal production, veterinary hygiene and disease control methods, along with tighter regulation of the food supply, mean that theprovide a level of safety and quality of food supplied to consumers around the world that has never been higher.

Healthy Animals Mean Healthy Food

Animal health products have played a crucial role in raising those standards,Because diseases are dynamic, the animal heath industry responds by investing about $1 billion per year in research to help raise the standard of animal well-being and to provide a safe food supply. By providing both farmers and the veterinary profession with vital tools to prevent and, wherewhen necessary, treat animal disease, disease. This not only protects the health and welfare of livestock populations, but also ensuresanimal medicines not only protect the health and well-being of animals, but also ensure the production of safe, quality food at affordable prices. In short, healthy animals produce safe food.

The relationship between the health of animals and the quality and safety of the food they produce isbeing recognised increasingly by the scientific community. For example:

example, research at1) Research from the University of Georgia (US) has demonstrated that meat from chickens in which antibiotics have been used to treat disease contains less potentially harmful bacteria than meat from untreated birds.

2) Antibiotic-free production may not enhance salmonella food safety in the pork food chain. A study conducted in three areas of the United States by researchers from North Carolina State University, the University of Wisconsin, and The Ohio State University found a 2.4 fold higher risk for salmonella 24 to 48 hours Do we have examples other thanprior to slaughter in pigs from farms not using antibiotics too?post-weaning as compared to those where antibiotics were used for therapy and/or growth promotion.

3) Another study in North Carolina (US) comparing prevalence and antimicrobial resistance in swine raised with and without antibiotics showed a higher prevalence of salmonella on farms not using antibiotics (15%) compared to those that used antibiotics (5.2%). There was, however, no difference in resistance against tetracycline between the two production systems.

4) Surveillance of Salmonella in eggs conducted by the Food Safety Agency of the United Kingdom shows a three-fold reduction in the prevalence of Salmonella from 1995/6 to 2003. The FSA attributed the decrease to a package of measures put in place by the UK egg industry which included Salmonella vaccination.

Veterinary Medicines: Heavily Regulated to Ensure EfficacyEffectiveness and Safety

Animal health products arethemselves subject to stringent controls, which ensure not only that they are safe and effective, but also that they are used appropriately. Beforeany veterinary medicines can be sold, regulatory andindependent scientific experts review data demonstrating the product's safety and efficacy,effectiveness, while post-marketing surveillance programmes ensurethat those qualities are endorsed by experience in the field.supported by actual experience.

Regulators alsoAnimal health companies extensively test and study animal medicines to ensure not only their safety for animals, but also for people who consume meat, milk and eggs. Regulators closely review these studies to affirm their safety and, when necessary, establish withdrawal periods for medicines used in food producing animals. These withdrawal periods represent the time that must elapse between the administration of a veterinary medicine and the slaughter of a treated animal destined to enter the food chain. Adherence to withdrawal periods ensures that veterinary drug residues remain far below these safe thresholds.

New regulatory requirements are emerging in various countries to require animal health companies to conductRecently in various countries, such as in the United States, formal risk assessments are being conducted to determine the level of risk an antibiotic used in animals may pose for creating resistant bacteria that could then transfer to humans via food. If the risks are high, regulatory authorities could limit the antibiotic’s use in animals or deny the approval altogether.

Governments Monitor Meat and MilkMeat, Milk and Eggs to Ensure Safe Food

Governments around the world conduct surveillance programmes designed to monitor the safety and quality of veterinary medicines and to check thatif they are being used in accordance with registered uses and conditions. For example, governments monitor meat to ensure that residues of veterinary medicine residuesdrugs are at or below the required levels to ensure safety for food and people.

Governments in the US, Canada and throughout much of Europe also track the susceptibility and resistance of bacteria in animals and humans. Testing in both animals and humans provides better understanding of bacterial resistance trends that may emerge from either animals or humans and provides the opportunity to develop strategies to reduce the dissemination of such resistance.

Animal Health Companies Invest to Ensure Judicious Use of Medicines

Regarding the judicious use of animal medicines, the animal health companies play an active role in this respect, and have been instrumental in the development of codes of practice encouraging the responsible use of its products. TheyAnimal health companies continue to invest significantly in educating veterinarians and producers on the appropriate use of their products. Companies have now begun to take this a step further, embarking on an initiative that will see the introduction of a unique identification system allowing complete traceability of veterinary medicines. The system will be established in Europe within the next three years, and will then be introduced in other regions around the world.

Veterinary medicines are an indispensable tool in the prevention and treatment of animal disease. Their contribution to animal health and the supply of safe, high quality food for consumption by the world's growing population is crucial. The animal health industry is dedicated to the continued development of these products, and to its role in the global supply of safe, healthy food.

3 November 2005