Prionics is an active partner with the food industry and public health authorities working to ensure food safety. At the recent Safe Pork conference in Maastricht, the Netherlands, Prionics presented its Porcine Food Safety Package; the umbrella under which the company is able to offer reliable and convenient solutions to ensure the safety of pork products.
Maastricht, the most southern city of The Netherlands, was host to the 9th Safe Pork Conference in June, 2011. One of the central themes of the conference was about transitioning the pork inspection process from the classic method of meat inspection to the visual method. With the classic method, each animal is examined by palpation and incisions at slaughter. The visual meat inspection method involves on-going risk-based surveillance of herds and monitoring of the complete pork production chain. This concept of visual meat inspection revolves around maintaining an animal’s health rather than curing its pathologies.
Risk-based surveillance for healthier animals
Utilizing risk-based surveillance, information about a herd, such as results of diagnostic tests, can be gathered, assessed and then communicated back to the farmer. With more information about a herd, the farmer can implement the appropriate measures to maximize the health of the animals. A healthier status of an animal population enables the reduction of anti-microbial substance use and addresses potential health risks at an early stage in the production chain. The benefits are clear: healthier animals and ultimately better pork meat products.
Many producers in the food industry not only apply compulsory food safety measures, but have enhanced them voluntarily. By doing so, the industry is aiming to be better prepared for the future, win consumer trust and potentially create higher yields. The availability of reliable and convenient tests is of primary importance for the success of food safety programs. Prionics recognized these demands and has developed diagnostic tools to support these programs. This on-going initiative will result in a continuous expansion of the Prionics portfolio with new products for food safety.
All relevant tests provided by one supplier
With its Porcine Food Safety Package, Prionics is able to offer a reliable and convenient solution for improving the safety of pork products. The meat industry can benefit by accessing all relevant tests through one supplier. Moreover, only one blood sample has to be collected, as the same blood sample can be used for all tests, enabling an efficient assessment of herd health. Prionics package of tests will be expanded as more compatible tests are developed. Currently, the Prionics Porcine Food Safety Package comprises the following tests:
