Official advice continues to be, however, that thorough cooking of pork products will reduce the risk of illness from harmful foodborne bacteria and viruses like hepatitis E.

More than 21,000 cases of Hepatits E infections have been reported in humans over the last 10 years, with an overall 10-fold increase in this period, EFSA said in its latest opinion on the virus.

Rosina Girones, chair of EFSA’s working group on HEV, said: “Even if it is not as widespread as other foodborne diseases, Hepatitis E is a growing concern in the EU. In the past, people thought the main source of infection was drinking contaminated water while travelling outside the EU. But now we know the main source of transmission of the disease in Europe is food.”

Domestic pigs are the main carriers of Hepatitis E in the EU. Wild boars can also carry the virus, but meat from these animals is less commonly consumed, EFSA said.

EFSA’s Panel on Biological Hazards is recommending that member states increase awareness of public health risks associated with raw and undercooked pork meat and advise consumers to cook pork meat thoroughly. The panel is also stressing the need to develop suitable methods for detecting the virus in food.

This scientific advice builds on a previous scientific opinion on the occurrence and control of foodborne viruses published in 2011.

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) has also published a report on Hepatitis E in humans which assesses testing, diagnosis and monitoring methods and reviews available epidemiological data.

NPA response

National Pig Association (NPA) senior policy advisor Georgina Crayford said: “Pigs are a natural reservoir for hepatitis E and infection is present in pig populations worldwide.

“The EFSA report reinforces the existing FSA advice to consumers about cooking pork safely. Ensuring pork and pork products are cooked thoroughly will reduce the risk of illness from hepatitis E.

“The EFSA report also highlights that while most cases were reported in France, Germany and the UK this is because these countries have established and consistent surveillance systems, which stands us in good stead for carefully monitoring this emerging public health issue.

“NPA welcomes the call from EFSA for more research into suitable methods for detecting hepatitis E in food as this will help us to ensure British pork remains safe.”

She also highlighted evidence that if people in this country have contracted Hepatitis E virus (HEV) from eating pork, it is likely to have come from imported pork, rather than British pork.

“Research at Public Health England has shown that the subgroup of hepatitis E causing the majority of human infection in the UK is not the same as the subgroup found in UK pigs,” she said.

To see the NPA’s briefing on Hepatitis E, click here

AHDB Pork response

AHDB strategy director for pork Mick Sloyan said: “Although Hepatitis E affects only a very small number of people across Europe, and those that are affected mostly display no or only mild symptoms, the increase in cases needs to be monitored.

“Hep E in the UK is still considered to be low risk by industry experts. Raw and undercooked pork has been highlighted by EFSA as a cause of infection in this very small number of people.

“Our advice is, if you are concerned then ensure that pork, pork products and offal are thoroughly cooked until steaming hot and the juices run clear. Hep E is heat sensitive and is destroyed by proper cooking.

“Despite the very low risk the industry is working together, including the Pig Health and Welfare Council and AHDB, to ensure that British pig production remains safe and operates to the highest standards that are independently audited.”

FSA position  

Following recent media reports linking a rise in Hepatitis E infection in humans to imported pork, the UK Food Standards Agency reiterated its advice to consumers about cooking pork thoroughly.

It said: “We always advise that whole cuts of pork, pork products and offal should be thoroughly cooked until steaming hot throughout, the meat is no longer pink and juices run clear.

“This will reduce the risk of illness from harmful foodborne bacteria and viruses like hepatitis E. The risk from acquiring hepatitis E virus (HEV) from eating thoroughly cooked pork or pork products is low.”

 More background

• Hepatitis E is a liver disease caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV)
• Most people who contract hepatitis E display no or mild symptoms. However, in some cases especially for those with liver damage or patients with a weak immune system, it can lead to liver failure – which can be fatal
• Most cases were reported in France, Germany and UK because these countries have established and consistent surveillance systems
• Pigs are a natural reservoir for HEV and infection is present in pig populations worldwide
• Samples collected in 2013 as part of a survey of UK slaughter pigs found the virus in 129 out of 629 (20.5%) pigs, while 93% tested positive for HEV antibodies, indicating exposure at some point in life
• However, high-level presence of the virus to a level that could be infectious to humans via consumption of the raw pigmeat was only found in 6 of the 629 pigs sampled
• In this survey, the majority of the viral samples belonged to a different subgroup to that causing infections in humans.

Porky Lights are manufactured by G White & Co, and are marketed as containing 3% fat and 78 calories per sausage. Up until this week, Slimming World advised members Porky Lights counted as just 0.5 of their daily allowable ‘syns’ compared to 4.5 ‘syns’ for regular sausages.

However, during a tasting session of Slimming World leaders, some testers became concerned with how fatty Porky Lights tasted, and sent some samples for testing in a professional laboratory. According to Slimming World, the sausages were found to contain more fat than claimed between 14.2% and 19.1%. G White & Co strongly disputes this claim.

“We have faced criticism from Porky Lights’ manufacturers for using a third party to do this work – however, we have no reason whatsoever to doubt the accuracy of the tests,” said a Slimming World spokesperson.

Now Slimming World has withdrawn the product from its database because it can’t verify how fatty the sausages are. “After serious consideration – faced with such a heavy weight of conflicting evidence about the fat content of the sausages – we decided that by far the safest option – to protect our members’ weight losses – was to withdraw the sausages from the database, until we had a chance to investigate further,” the spokesperson said.

G White & Co issued a statement strongly refuting Porky Lights has been mislabelled. “The current claims about the nutritional content of Porky Lights sausages are grossly misleading,” said Chris Price, managing director. “G White & Co have a stringent and regular testing process, which can be entirely substantiated by independent UKAS accredited laboratories. The most recent UKAS accredited tests confirm that Porky Lights are indeed 3% fat and 78 calories per sausage.

“We understand that Slimming World’s statement about our Porky Light sausages is based on analysis undertaken by another manufacturer, rather than the result of Slimming World’s own independent research.

“G White & Co’s Porky Whites products are built on a reputation, forged by making the most delicious products possible for our customers to enjoy. Our uncompromising approach means that we strive to find the very best ingredients for all of our products. Our recipes are created with one objective in mind — to make the most delicious pork and beef products we can for our loyal, appreciated customers.

“Porky Lights have benefitted from this stringent process and have been embraced and enjoyed by the UK’s slimming public. Porky Lights sausages are the first product offered to the market from a developed range of low fat, low calorie meat based products that include burgers and flavoured sausages. This range has been created to satisfy the needs of the British public who are more conscious than ever of the quality and health credentials of the food they eat.”

Based on the latest Defra data, production in December totalled 167,400 tonnes, with the majority of the continued decline being due to a 14% reduction in grower feed production against finishing and breeding feed output falls of 2% and 3% respectively.

For 2016 as a whole, pig feed production totalled 1.8 million tonnes, 3% lower than in 2015. As with the December trend, the main drivers behind the overall decrease was an 11% reduction in pig grower feed, set against a 4% fall in breeder feed output.

In terms of feed content, 2016 saw a 9% rise in wheat inclusions at 3.48 million tonnes, while barley usage fell by 2%, oat inclusions fell by 44% and maize usage decreased by 3%.

“The word ‘sustainability’ has been grossly overused and in many ways its meaning has eroded over the last decade,” said Nutreco’s sustainability director, José Villalon (pictured above). “The challenge for corporations like Nutreco is to keep it relevant, credible and measurable and that is precisely what we aim for with Nuterra.

“Sustainability is not just about what we aspire to do, it is what we do.”

The Nuterra programme consists of three distinct components:

• Roadmap – setting clear ambitions regarding people, planet and profit and providing an aspirational vision designed to steer the company’s actions and initiatives over a period of several years. It is aligned with the long-term goals of Nutreco’s strategy and addresses Nutreco’s commitment to specific United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
• Standard – an internal tool that outlines more than 100 actions needed to realise the roadmap, enabling the company to measure and score progress over time regarding its own operations.
• Product Assessment – helping to measure the environmental impacts and attributes of Nutreco´s nutritional solutions using Life Cycle Assessment methodology. Nutreco invests heavily in offering products, models and services that address specific and relevant environmental issues. This tool enables us to quantify the reduction in those impacts that are achieved when using our nutritional solutions.

Based on the results of the survey, conducted immediately after the 2016 harvest, Nutriad experts have warned that this year’s wheat crop in the UK and Ireland should not automatically be considered safe for inclusion into finished feed rations for all animal species, adding that a degree of vigilance is prudent.

The survey covers 66 samples from all over Great Britain and Ireland with more than 500 points of analyses being conducted to test for the occurrence of the eight mycotoxins most frequently found in agricultural commodities, as intended for animal production.

The survey therefore provides an insight into the incidences of aflatoxin B1 (AfB1), zearalenone (ZEN), deoxynivalenol (DON), T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, fumonisin B1 (FB1), fumonisin B2 (FB2) and ochratoxin A (OTA).

“The results show that 64% of wheat samples were contaminated with DON and none of the samples contained AfB1 or FB1,” said the company. “Only 3 % of samples contained T-2 toxin and such low incidence of contamination was not expected. The average concentrations of all recovered mycotoxins were medium while the highest concentration of DON found in one of the samples reached 1100 μg/kg.

“Although 12.3% of the samples contained HT-2 toxin, a mycotoxin extremely toxic for poultry, its maximum concentration reached only 32.2 μg/kg and this level is negligible. None of the samples was contaminated with FB1, but this result was expected as it is well known that FB1 is mostly produced on maize.

“Only one sample was contaminated with FB2 and OTA. Surprisingly, the results show that 15% of wheat samples were contaminated with ZEN and its maximum concentration found in one sample reached 810 μg/kg.”

Nutriad’s business development manager, Radka Borutova (pictured above), added: “Vigilance is always advisable in any case as cereals in animal feeds originate from many sources and some continental European cereals and South American soya harvested in 2016 have been shown to be contaminated with medium to high concentrations of mycotoxins.

“The last possible line of defence is the detoxification of mycotoxins in vivo.  The addition of proven mycotoxin deactivators to animal feeds is a very common method to prevent mycotoxicosis and is an effective strategy to keep mycotoxin risk low under any and all conditions.”

The need for uniformity of production and the fact that the relationship between genetics and nutrition is becoming much closer, were the key issues tackled by Trouw Nutrition GB’s nutritionist and pig technical manager, Dr Sian Nichols.

Pointing out that swift genetic development in recent years has given today’s farmers access to highly productive dam lines, Dr Nichols said that nutritional strategies must keep pace with such new potential, with many traditional concepts and recommendations warranting some re-evaluation.

“Modern females are more than capable of producing large litters, but they need good quality nutrition and a more targeted approach to feeding which requires investment,” she said.

Dr Nichols also explained how nutrition in early life impacts on total performance and how exposure to nutrients and microorganisms – good and bad – can influence gut development.

Immune responses to ingested materials, for example, such as feed, bedding, medication and dung, create “gut reactions” which if not managed well, can predispose pigs to dietary/health problems later in life, resulting in performance losses.

“By gaining a better understanding of how naïve digestive systems develop, particularly during the first six weeks of life,” she said, “producers could potentially improve pre and post weaning piglet performance.”

Top 10% units

Conference delegates were also treated to a discussion of the management techniques used with high-performance dam lines by Robin Brice of Countess Wells Breeding and by Rattlerow’s outdoor production manager, John Theobald.

Delegates were told that productivity in both businesses is ranked in the top 10% of UK recorded herds, with this achievement being due to “consistent, disciplined routines, good biosecurity and health management and skilled, motivated staff”.

The message from Countess Wells was that gilts there are served at 260 days of age and are expected to rear 12 pigs a litter. There is also a firm commitment to rear small pigs which has involved considerable investment in both time and money. This strategy, however, has helped the 700-sow herd wean in excess of 30 pigs/sow/year and sell 29.4 during the past twelve months. Piglet mortality is under 10%, with the unit’s small pigs going on to grade well, with good conformation and no lag in performance in the rearing period.

Current performance on Rattlerow’s outdoor units, meanwhile, is 26 pigs weaned/sow /year, which is 3.18 pigs more than the AHDB average recorded herds. In addition, initial results from an outdoor site that is now using Aardvark huts indicate a 1% reduction in pre-weaning mortality, which could take productivity higher.

Rattlerow also used the conferences to talk about current developments within its independent Klasse AI business and the range of UK and European sire lines now standing at its British studs.

Headline image shows conference speakers (l-r) John Theobald, Rattlerow Farms outdoor production manager, Ian Gillies, Rattlerow Farms AI and genetics manager; Dr Sian Nichols, pig technical manager at Trouw Nutrition GB; Robin Brice, Countess Wells Breeding and Stefan Derks, Director Klasse.

Nutreco says the competition is part of the company’s “continuous quest for innovation in animal nutrition and aqua feed” and that the unique prize on offer for the world’s brightest feed development minds is the chance to expose their product innovations to a scientific on-farm validation trial on one of Nutreco’s research farms.

“With a world population growing to over 9 billion by 2050 and finite natural resources, the animal nutrition and aqua feed industry needs to step up its efforts,” said Nutreco, adding that its FeedTech Challenge will create a “greenhouse & pressure cooker” environment aimed at identifying, nurturing and enriching high potential concepts in pilot or proof-of-concept phases.

Nutreco CEO, Knut Nesse, added: “We know that validation and knowledge on how to apply new technologies in a real farm environment are crucial for farmers to embrace innovation. As such, our challenge, and in particular the validation trial, can provide a significant contribution to introducing new breakthrough innovations into real life.

“For start-ups it is a great opportunity to accelerate the development of their innovations, possibly even leading to a funding offer from Nutreco or one of our partners.”

The competition is set to run for two months with contestants participating via an online platform where entries will be open for comments, discussions and contributions from others. The company also said that its aim is to provide a unique opportunity to connect with other start-ups, industry experts, scientists, and ultimately with farmers and the rest of the world.

More challenge information

Part of Nutreco’s animal nutrition division, the Trouw business is seeking to demonstrate the effectiveness of its nutritional solutions in different geographies and market places by establishing validation centres on five continents where it is already collaborating with leading universities and regional science partners.

“While we develop new products, models and service tools at our global research centres, a proof of concept is clearly important,” said Trouw Nutrition’s R&D director, Leo den Hartog. “Application knowledge, taking into account local conditions, such as climate and farming practices, is a critical success factor of many of the innovations we develop.

“A good example is our blended feed additive solutions where validation studies in different regions have already shown that similar performance responses can be obtained compared to antimicrobial growth promoters.’’

Validation teams will be based in Asia-Pacific, Brazil, China, Europe and North America with research proposals being set up in close collaboration with universities, research institutes and key customers in the respective regions. These teams will execute validation trials of nutritional solutions that have already been developed in the five research centres that Trouw Nutrition operates in the Netherlands, Canada and Spain.

Headline image was taken inside Trouw’s pig research centre in the Netherlands

The Federation’s president, Ruud Tijssens, has written to the EU’s Commissioner for Health & Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, highlighting the contribution which adequate animal feed makes to the health and well-being of farm animals.

“With the preservation of animal health, the need for medical treatment, including antibiotics, will be reduced,” stated Mr Tijssens, while pressing the Commissioner to include the animal feed sector in the future “One-Health AMR Network”.

Fefac has also called for EU Member States to include a chapter on animal feed in their national action plans to reduce AMR.

See full Fefac letter

Last month, the retailer brought in its first shipment of soya grown in the Danube Region of Europe to be used in pig feed rations by Dalehead Foods, the chain’s dedicated pork supplier.

Waitrose said the move marked the start of its plans to move away from South American soya, lowering the risk to its supply chain as demand for it from the developing world increases.

“It fits perfectly into our strategy to improve our supply chain security by sourcing animal feed from raw materials grown at home or within the UK and Europe,” said Waitrose managing director, Rob Collins.

Dalehead Foods’ director of agriculture, Andrew Saunders, added: “A number of Waitrose supply chains have carried out trials on the use of European soya, and we are excited to be the first supply chain to use this source.”

NPA view

The move was welcomed by NPA policy services officer, Lizzie Wilson, who described it as a “significant announcement”.

“We applaud the initiative they have taken to source protein from closer to home,” she said. “However, when it comes to the wider UK and EU meat and livestock supply chains, the reality is that alternatives are not yet there on a large scale.

“The EU continues to be heavily reliant on imported protein crops to fulfil its protein requirements. The main one of these is soya from South and North American countries, where GM technology adoption is over 90%.”