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COOPERATIVE EXTENSIONUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIACALIFORNIA POULTRY LETTERSeptember 1997In This Issue:
California Egg Quality Assurance Program TrainingAnimal production food safety has become a major issue. Every few days we hear of a trace back from a food illness outbreak to a meat, poultry or egg farm or processor. For example, Hudson Foods was recently forced to recall hamburger and lost their largest customer as a result of the publicity. Your best protection is participation in a quality assurance program like those offered in California. When you join you make your ranch, company and industry look good. Be proactive; show your customers, that you care! We have established the following schedule for quality assurance training. Session II is specific for egg processors, but the other sessions are appropriate for the Egg or Poultry Meat Quality Assurance Plans (e.g. meat chickens, turkeys, ducks, game birds or squab). Location: Modesto Jr. College East Campus, Agriculture Building Time: All sessions start at 6:00 pm and end by 10:00 pm Date:
Reservations: Please telephone (916)752-3513 (Dr. Ralph Ernst) for reservations; if there is no answer please leave a message. For completion of each of those sessions you will receive a certificate of completion. This is a terrific opportunity to get your ranch on a quality assurance program. These sessions also qualify for continuing education credit for all QA programs. Directions to the Modesto Junior College East Campus From the 99 freeway take the Kansas exit and turn east. Cross the railroad tracks and turn left on 9th Street. Turn right on Tulley and then right onto Caldwell. The last building on the left is the Agriculture Building. You can park free in the Agriculture compound behind the building. You can also park in the lot on the corner of Caldwell and College for $1.00. (Strict parking regulations are enforced, so do not park here without a permit!) California Foodborne Illness Outbreaks Attributed to Salmonella Enteritidis 1991 through July 1997At the August 19 meeting of the California Egg Quality Assurance Plan held in Sacramento, a summary of human outbreaks associated with Salmonella enteritidis (SE) was given by Dr. Larry Barrett, representing the California Dept. of Health Services. In general, he reported that the number of reported cases of Salmonella- associated food illnesses (the first 28 weeks of each year) rose from about 2600 cases in 1990 to a level of approximately 3200 cases for the period 1993-1997. The 28 weeks was used to allow for comparison with 1997. Annual totals for all Salmonella cases reached levels of 7000 cases in 1994-1996 with approximately 2000 to 2500 cases attributed to SE. Cases attributed to SE rose from about 10-12% of all Salmonella cases in 1990-92 to a high of 34% in 1995. Since 1995, the proportion of cases attributed to SE dropped to 30% in 1996 to about 20% in 1997. Interestingly, the number of reported SE cases for the 1978 to 1989 period remained consistently below 1000 cases per year. Since then case number rose to 2000 cases between 1989 and 1993 followed by a sharp increase to its apparent peak level of 2500 cases per year in 1994-95. Of the estimated 10,050 total cases reported in California for the first 28 weeks of the year for the 3-year period (1994-96), approximately 54% of the cases were from the following Southern California counties:
Total - 5400 cases (53.7%) of SE associated Food borne illness. (28 weeks x 3 years) The remainder of the state had approximately 4650 cases (46.3%). Of the 47 outbreaks reported ( December of 1991 to July of 1997) the suspected food vehicle was reported to be:
Editor's comment: It must be noted that none of these involved trace-backs and the term "suspected vehicle" is used to describe the probable source of the contamination. Of the 47 cases, only 8 (17%) were associated with home-consumption of the suspected foods. This means that 83% were associated with restaurants, and other mass-service institutions where multiple food handlers are involved. Because of the proportion of cases associated with non-home usage of eggs, it is highly recommended that a greater effort is made to educate the food handling industry and to increase monitoring efforts for compliance. Educating Food Handlers About Food Safety and The Proper Procedures for Working With EggsTraining of food handlers is usually considered company business and the thoroughness and follow-up varies between companies. At the recently held Oregon/Washington Poultry Industries Convention held in Bend, Oregon, Mr. Ron Hall, Environmental Services Manager, from the Oregon Health Division discussed the Oregon "Food Handler's Certification Program" and provided those in attendance with copies of "Working Healthy", a food handler's manual. The booklet is used in required training programs for new food handlers and the passage of a certification test is required before employment can continue. The 5 points of emphasis in the 40 page booklet are:
Areas of instruction include:
The opportunity for food producers to have input to this group of very important people in the food safety chain (food handlers) is very limited. Some poultry and egg companies have provided laminated guidelines for posting in food establishments. Others distribute printed literature. One of the more conspicuous methods is to print safe handling procedures directly on the packaging containers - for eggs this would be the cardboard half or full case container. An example of one of these is shown on the next page. PERISHABLE - KEEP REFRIGERATEDEGG SAFETY AND QUALITYSTORAGE
The above is only illustrative of the type of message that may be placed on the side or end panels of secondary egg containers. A cartoon may be added to each instruction to simplify the message. A complimentary copy of the "Working Healthy" booklet may be obtained by contacting: Mr Steve Wagner, President An Update on California's Egg Quality Assurance Plan (CEQAP)The California Egg Quality Assurance Plan (CEQAP) team recently held a meeting in late August in Sacramento. It was reported that the number of companies joining the plan is increasing. There are 26 companies certified in the plan. These companies represent 55 percent of California's layer inventory. There are approximately 15 additional farms that are in the process of becoming certified or writing their flock plans. These farms represent another 30 percent of the layer production. Nearly 80-90 percent of California's egg production is committed to the CEQAP. The California egg industry is at the forefront of Animal Production Food Safety. To mark this achievement, the state and federal agencies joined the egg industry in signing a landmark Partnership Agreement in April. The California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA), the California Department of Health Services (CDHS), the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) cooperatively signed a Partnership Agreement to support the efforts of the CEQAP program. Aside from the symbolic gesture, one of the key points in the Partnership Agreement provides CDFA the authority to become the lead agency in the event of an SE trace back to a CEQAP certified farm. FDA and public health will investigate non-CEQAP farms. Also, CDFA will now play a greater role in the on-going food illness investigation. The Partnership Agreement provides a greater incentive for farms to become enrolled. At the August meeting, it was agreed that a verification plan was needed for several reasons. First, the CEQAP has been criticized by FDA and other public health officials because the program does not contain a testing provision as other state plans do. The United Egg Producers' 5 Star Egg Quality Assurance Plan recently adopted a testing provision by requiring environmental monitoring 2-3 weeks prior to depopulation. Second, without monitoring, it is impossible to gauge the success of the plan over time. The egg industry and CEQAP team members adopted a resolution calling for CDFA to conduct an annual survey of farm environments on a double-blind basis. A similar verification program was performed last year. The results from 59 premises indicated only one environmental and one egg pool were positive for SE. By conducting an annual survey, the state can measure the success of the program and SE levels. The public health agencies reported that California's human SE food illness cases topped in 1995 and have been decreasing ever since. For the first 28 weeks in 1997 SE cases are lower than the comparable periods in 1994-96. This is positive news. The CEQAP logo is still being considered. A CDFA attorney was present to explain that CDFA is willing to consider using the Department's logo if it can graphically depict the role CDFA plays in the CEQAP program. The Department is still concerned about liability if the logo can be construed to indicate eggs are guaranteed free of SE. Developing a CEQAP logo for packaging or use on letterhead and invoices continues to be stymied by the liability question. In addition, it has been difficult to develop a recognizable symbol that conveys the meaning of the plan and which can be reduced to a small icon. David Goldenberg Layer Cages Doomed as Great Britain Follows TrendBy IAN ELLIOTT Feedstuffs Correspondent Editor's Comment: The following article appeared in the August 11, 1997 issue of Feedstuffs and is reprinted here because of California's long interest in the subject. The government of the U.K. looks like it will follow other European countries by ending the domestic egg industry's practice of keeping laying hens in cages. The news came in a July 24 announce- ment from the British Ministry of Agri- culture, Fisheries & Food (MAFF). In the statement, British Farm Ministers welcomed a report on the welfare of lay- ing hens from its Farm Animal Welfare Council, which raised questions about current egg industry practices. The ministers said they would press the European Union to revise current di- rectives regulating laying hens. They also said they would ask the British public for its opinion on keeping layers in cages. Caging layers is a standard practice in the egg industry in many parts of the world, including the U.S. and Canada. However, some countries in recent years, such as Switzerland, have banned the cages after agreeing with charges from the animal welfare community that the layers suffer inhuman treatment in these systems. "The council is to be congratulated for undertaking this wide ranging and thor- ough review. Its recommendations give independent support to the government's own view that we must plan an end to the practice of keeping laying hens in battery cages, "U.K. animal welfare Minister Elliot Morley said. "The report identifies a number of issues that need to be addressed as part of this planning pro- cess. These include the need to ensure that the welfare of birds in alternative systems is properly protected and that phasing out does not put U.K. producers at a disadvantage compared to their com- petitors." When Switzerland first banned the practice of keeping layers in cages, its egg industry quickly suffered a loss of domestic market share to egg producers in Italy and France, who continued to maintain the hens in battery operations. It is not clear what impact a British ban on caged layers would have on imports. The EU attempted during the Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs & Trade-World Trade Organization negotiations to insert wording into the Agreement on Sanitary & Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) that would have allowed countries to block imports on grounds such as this. When EU negotiators failed to have trading partners accept language permitting the so called "fourth hurdle," it lost this argument. With the SPS accord only allowing countries to block imports based on well founded worries over threats to the health of humans, animals or plants, any attempt to block eggs produced by caged layers would appear to be doomed. However, the SPS accord is being renegotiated next year. The British ministers said they would press the European Commission to speed up its review of egg industry regulations in order to ensure domestic producers do not face a competitive disadvantage. "As a first step we will be pressing the EU Commission to bring forward its proposals for updating the current legislation on the battery cage and to extend community controls to all types of production system," said Morley. As a second step, the ministers said they would open public consultations on the production practice. The public con- sultation is slated to run through August and September. Year-end Layer Estimates - U.S.- 1997Current estimates for the U.S. table egg layer count are: UEP (8-25-97) - - - - - -255.8 million Last year (1996) - - - - -250.5 This will place year end figures 5.3 to 6.3 higher than last year's ending count. The year end (UC) estimates have come down progressively for the last 3 months, thanks to higher than anticipated slaughter numbers. The slaughter counts in May, June, and July were higher than expected by 1.6, 1.5 and .9 million respectively.
e = estimated Don Bell, Poultry Specialist Ralph Ernst, Poultry Specialist
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