How much do you trust your food?

How much do you trust that the food you are eating is safe?

New Zealand veterinarians have a pivotal role to play in food safety on World Health Day

Tuesday 7 April 2015

Working at the frontline of food safety there are over 250 veterinarians across New Zealand protecting the public from 200 plus diseases that are caused by unsafe foods. Meat and dairy are our country’s biggest export earners, with veterinarians working behind the scenes safeguarding our international reputation while combating food contamination from harmful bacteria, viruses, parasites or diseases associated with chemical substances. These contaminations can cause anything from diarrhoea to cancers.

This year’s World Health Day (Tuesday 7 April) theme of food safety is a timely reminder of how crucial it is for New Zealanders to recognise the important role veterinarians play in human health and well-being.

Steve Merchant, President of the New Zealand Veterinary Association says: “When people sit down to a family meal they may not be aware of the work veterinarians do in the production industry making sure their food is safe. Our role in ensuring food safety is as much about preventing people from developing foodborne illnesses as it is about ensuring we meet the highest animal welfare standards.”

“Veterinarians are there at every stage as the independent eyes on the ground – protecting the health of animals on farm, and in meat production examining animals before slaughter as well as carcasses during processing. This ensures that diseased animals do not enter the food supply. We verify products, ensuring animal health and welfare standards are followed, audit food safety programmes, and provide export certification for animal products.”

“Our reputation for food safety is hard won, and easily lost without this quality control.”

He goes on to comment: “We are seeing big changes in the international food market including increased demand for protein goods such as meat and milk, particularly from developing countries. The growth of middle class populations in regions such as Asia and changing consumption patterns such as demand for more premium products, provide huge opportunities for New Zealand to grow its food markets.”

“However, retaining consumer confidence in both the quality and safety of our products is essential and cannot be put at risk.”

“Veterinary oversight of processing, for example in the meat industry, and identifying and managing risk, such as animal diseases that can spread to people (known as zoonotic diseases), helps to ensure that we avoid technical barriers to trade and continue to put our best foot forward in international markets.”

He says that veterinarians are ideally placed to ensure that farmers are fully aware of and adhering to animal welfare issues to maintain New Zealand’s good standing in export markets.

“While consumers expect high quality, safe food, increasingly people also want assurance that food production involving animals and animal products follow animal welfare standards and protocols, and that is where veterinarians are really able to add value.”

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