Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Veterinary Declaration
A Food Safety Objective is the maximum frequency and/or
concentration of a (microbiological) hazard in a food at the
time of consumption that provides the Appropriate Level of
Protection (ALOP).
Should confirm:
The favourable outcome of the ante-mortem inspection
The reason for emergency slaughter, including details of the
accident that required emergency slaughter of the animal
Any treatment administered to the animal
The date and time of slaughter
The requirement for the declaration to include the time and
date of slaughter dictates that the veterinarian signing the
declaration must be present at the time of slaughter.
discussed, the effectiveness of this risk assessment will
depend upon the reliability of the information available.
The key to improving the current system is that the
actions taken during processing and post-mortem
inspection allow the meat to emerge which meets a tar-
get, which at the point of consumption can meet a food
safety objective (FSO) that provides the consumer with
an appropriate level of protection (ALOP).
The practical purpose of FSO concept is that it allows
flexibility of regulatory control and operation of the
process in that it does not prescribe how compliance is
achieved but rather defines the goal. There are however
significant challenges to agreeing an ALOP, that is, the
acceptable level of cases permissible at the level of a pop-
ulation through risk assessment. Despite this difficulty,
setting an FSO for specific hazards does assist risk man-
agement in the Integrated Food Safety Assurance by
setting an ultimate target at consumer level that can
be translated into milestones, the HEIs at various steps
along the road from farm to fork.
This concept is also applicable to the control of hygiene
described later in this chapter but is an important con-
cept to consider when dealing with those hazards best
controlled through the setting of HEI for the post-mor-
tem inspection process.
food factory and does not potentially contain residues
of veterinary medicines, the practitioner may confirm
the findings on the 'food chain information' document.
The British Cattle Veterinary Association and the Pig
Veterinary Society in the United Kingdom have both
produced useful notes for guidance for the veterinary
practitioner. If he or she is in any doubt, they may find it
useful to discuss the details of the case with the official
veterinarian in the slaughter establishment to which the
carcase is to be conveyed.
The farmer should confirm with the food business
operator for the slaughter establishment that they will
accept the carcase for dressing. The slaughterhouse must
be less than 2 hours' transport time from the farm of ori-
gin. Since the carcase is likely to fall outside the specifi-
cation of many of the abattoir's customers, they may only
accept it on the understanding that it returns to the
farmer presenting it for his/her own consumption.
In all cases, the private practitioner must ensure that
the welfare of the animal takes precedence over all other
considerations. The slaughter and bleeding of the animal
must be carried out efficiently by the veterinarian or by
an appropriately trained and experienced slaughterman.
Facilities for post-mortem inspection
In addition to the usual structural and mechanical
facilities which provide for good working conditions and
enable carcases and their parts to be delivered for inspec-
tion in a satisfactory manner, each inspection point on
the slaughter line should have well-distributed lighting
of at least 540 lux in intensity which does not distort
colours. There must also be sufficient sanitising units
for equipment, hands and aprons, with disinfectant soap
and disposable paper towels available. A system for the
effective sterilisation of knives, cleavers and saws must
be available, be this a wash facility adjacent to a water
bath operating at 82°C which will encompass the blade-
handle junction or an equivalent method.
These requirements extend to the routine inspection
points on the slaughter line and to the 'detained' area
where further detailed examination is performed. It is
essential that there should be coordination and commu-
nication between inspection points and that the inspec-
tors on the inspection line can confidently identify
correlated carcases and viscera. For most domestic farm
Emergency slaughter: The decision at the
slaughter establishment
On arrival at the slaughter establishment, the food chain
information and veterinary declaration are conveyed via
the operator to the official veterinarian. The official vet-
erinarian must confirm that the carcase can proceed to
be dressed for food before hygienic dressing and pro-
cessing commences. A detailed post-mortem should be
carried out to confirm the on-farm diagnosis, and in all
cases, samples should be collected to confirm freedom
particularly from residues of antimicrobial substances.
post-mortem inspection
Within the framework of Integrated Food Safety
Assurance (Fig. 9.2), ante-mortem should differentiate
the animals for slaughter into high and low risk. As
