Foot and mouth precautions

[ljs]

UK bans EU cheese and meat imports to prevent disease spreading

People coming into Great Britain can no longer bring cured meats or cheese from the EU following an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Donkey Basher]

 

[Jon P]

Good, we need to get like Australia and do more to stop stuff coming in unofficially.

 

[Heym SR20]

So please can somebody explain exactly how the Saussicon that I brought back from France last month will be harmful. The French, like the rest of the EU, and of course the UK has strict rules on animal slaughter with checks on animals for Foot and Mouth and other notifiable diseases prior to slaughter.

The carcasses and organs are then checked for disease.

Any that do not pass the above don’t even enter the foodchain.

Most food products, especially cured meats will then go through a curing process using salt, fermentation, pickling etc which all go to eliminating abd killing off any harmful bugs.

It is then put into a sealed package, usually with nitrogen fill to give it a long shelf life.

I get it home, I eat it, waste goes into food waste and landfill / recycling and once digested it goes into the sewerage system.

Long gone are the days when food waste is fed to pigs. Indeed when it was, it was usually cooked up to a temperature that degrades proteins and thus kills bugs.

So I don’t really see how banning import really helps our bio security.

That is unless livestock is getting high levels of access to food waste.

I suppose given the state of our sewerage companies (they really don’t do water) livestock will have unfettered access to raw sewage, and rather than composting or feeding anerobic digesters our food waste is all going to animals cos there are absolutely no controls on such companies then there is risk.

But banning import of foodstuffs really seems just a politically motivated distraction over what the real problems really are.

 

[Jon P]

FMD does not die in the cooking process at temperatures that we cook things at- hence you are not allowed to feed out of date sausage rolls to pig’s anymore as the FMD is still present in the meat and will pass to the animal , also the reason you are not permitted to feed kitchen veg waste to livestock as it probably contaminated with animal fats-

 

[Bavarianbrit]

FMD does not die in the cooking process at temperatures that we cook things at- hence you are not allowed to feed out of date sausage rolls to pig’s anymore as the FMD is still present in the meat and will pass to the animal , also the reason you are not permitted to feed kitchen veg waste to livestock as it probably contaminated with animal fats-

Every day is a school day, thanks.

 

[Bo Diddley]

My brother works on a pig unit, all the staff are forbidden from taking any pork products on the unit... so no ham & cheese rolls, no pork pies, no sausage & tomato sauce sandwiches....

 

[VSS]

My brother works on a pig unit, all the staff are forbidden from taking any pork products on the unit... so no ham & cheese rolls, no pork pies, no sausage & tomato sauce sandwiches....

Very sensible.

 

[Heym SR20]

My brother works on a pig unit, all the staff are forbidden from taking any pork products on the unit... so no ham & cheese rolls, no pork pies, no sausage & tomato sauce sandwiches....

That is good bio security as it should be. But how many members of the general public get access to such a pig unit?

 

[Buchan]

The specific pig thin is also for African Swine Fever.
In fairness a salami is not likely to contain FMD virus, IF, all of the normal precautions apply. The virus is inactivated by the pH of the muscle after death, but can persist in bone and some lymph tissue. But if the slaughter process doesn't involve a proper period for rigor to occur, or the knife picked up a lymph node, or the salami company imported meat with the above laxity, then there is a risk.
FMD2001 was probably imported pork ribs so it is a real risk

And frankly, I don't want to repeat the early months of 2001 for he sake of a nice salami

 

[enfieldspares]

Here's a summation which, as I work with British visitors to France, might also be useful for SD Members?

It does tend to "repeat" but it is all cut and pasted from the various rules that can be found here and there on You Gov website so is helpful regarding fish and other items plus the difference between bread and bread made into sandwiches.

I hope it helps? So at least one can still bring back a "poulet de Bresse" and similar.

Bringing food into Great Britain

Government extends ban on personal meat imports to protect farmers from foot and mouth

Ban on personal imports of meat and dairy products extended to cover all EU countries to safeguard the UK food system and farmers against foot and mouth disease.

The Government has taken measures to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease (FMD) following a rising number of cases across Europe.

From Saturday 12 April it will be illegal for travellers from all EU countries entering Great Britain to bring items like sandwiches, cheese, cured meats, raw meats or milk into the country. This is regardless of whether it is packed or packaged or whether it has been bought at duty free.

Travellers will no longer be able to bring cattle, sheep, goat, and pig meat, as well as dairy products, from EU countries into Great Britain for personal use, to protect the health of British livestock, the security of farmers, and the UK’s food security.

You can bring the following into Great Britain from any country without any restrictions

bread, but not sandwiches filled with meat or dairy products

cakes without fresh cream

biscuits

chocolate and confectionery, but not those made with a lot of unprocessed dairy ingredients

pasta and noodles, but not if mixed or filled with meat or meat products

packaged soup, stocks and flavourings

processed and packaged plant products, such as packaged salads and frozen plant material

food supplements containing small amounts of an animal product, such as fish oil capsules

The rules on bringing meat, dairy, fish and other animal products depend on the country you’re bringing it from.

From the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenland

You can bring in the following for personal use:

fish

poultry, for example chicken, duck, goose and any other products made from these meats

other animal products, for example eggs and honey

Because of animal disease outbreaks (including foot and mouth disease) in the EU, there are temporary restrictions in place for bringing in:

meat, dairy and animal products from some animals

animal products not for human consumption

You cannot bring in food from other countries on a connecting flight.

You need to properly dispose of any leftover animal products so that livestock, wild boar and other animals cannot eat them.

Restrictions on meat, dairy and animal products for human consumption

You cannot bring in any of the following:

pork

beef

lamb

mutton

goat

venison

other products made from these meats, for example sausages

milk and dairy products like butter, cheese and yoghurt

You can bring in up to 2kg per person of powdered infant milk, infant food, or special food needed for medical reasons. You can only bring it in if it does not need to be refrigerated before use, and is in branded, unopened packaging (unless in current use).

From countries outside the EU

If you’re bringing food from a country outside the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, the Faroe Islands and Greenland, the following rules apply.

You cannot bring in:

meat or meat products

milk or milk-based products, except powdered infant milk, infant food or special food (including pet food) needed for medical reasons

You can bring in up to 2kg per person of:

honey

powdered infant milk, infant food, or special food (including pet food) needed for medical reasons - you can only bring it in if it does not need to be refrigerated before use, and is in branded, unopened packaging (unless in current use)

shellfish, such as mussels or oysters

snails - these must be preserved or shelled, cooked and prepared

frogs’ legs - these must be the back (hind) part of the frog with the skin and internal organs removed

insect meat

You can bring in up to 20kg per person in total of fish, including:

fresh fish - must be gutted

fish products

processed fish - must be dried, cooked, cured or smoked

lobsters

prawns

 

[Bo Diddley]

That is good bio security as it should be. But how many members of the general public get access to such a pig unit?

There shouldn't be any TBF. Just staff and lorry drivers transporting the pigs backwards and forwards and tonnes of food.
They did have a spate of home butchery thefts a few years ago, they would find the evidence when they arrived in the morning, of a pig slaughtered in the field and dragged to the nearest road through the fence and presumably loaded into a vehicle.