HomeOld_PostsCattle and food safety...a global view

Cattle and food safety…a global view

Published on

OVER the last decades, as food ‘availability’ has no longer been an issue for consumers within Western countries, consumer concerns about food have slowly shifted from food ‘security’ to food ‘safety’, as more consumers became more aware and interested in the safety and other characteristics of their food. 

Particularly in the decades following the outbreak of ‘mad cow disease’ overseas – there has been notable changes in consumers’ perceptions of food safety in general and meat safety in particular, with segments of the populations in both the EU and US willing to pay premiums for meat with better guarantees of animal health control. 

These higher prices, together with well-known income effects on demand, often translate into small niche markets.

I have already touched briefly on meat safety in Zimbabwe and the inadvisable importance for humans not to consume contaminated meat.  

However, since the current austerity measures continue to bite, I thought it fit to expand on the subject, especially since there is an information gap between consumers, producers and safety authorities along the beef supply chains. 

Food safety concerns have assumed new proportions since the 1980s, as several ‘food scares’ such as Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), dioxin residues and

e. coli, among others, across Europe took unprecedented dimension, particularly when considering food products of animal origin.

This increased concern is derived not only from global media coverage, but also from the diffuse (and therefore frightening) hazardous effects associated with these issues. 

For most consumers, the health consequences related with these food scares were not hard to comprehend in view of the fact that some of these health hazards as very severe and in some cases were proved to be fatal.

In assessing consumer concerns regarding meat safety in many different European countries, the presence of drug residues in meat is often of concern by the consumers of several types of meat.  

Globally, there has been regular research done on the association between the presence of anti-bacterial residues in meat and microbial resistance. 

However, there is still no consensus on this subject, which is also an open scientific question. 

Food safety legislation within the EU’s legal framework has accompanied scientific development, even acting preventively in questions without scientific consensus, as in the case of the use of anti-bacterial supplements in beef cattle as a feed additive. 

Although the use of anti-bacterial supplements in food animals is covered by several legal documents, it is still of concern for many consumers; which in the absence of a consensus, is a relevant issue for meat production, public health and consumer interest.

Today, producers, sellers and safety authorities in general are better informed regarding the potential hazards and the dimension of risk associated with the consumption of a given food product.  

Increasingly, meat safety must be regarded as a global matter due to the increase in meat consumption around the world, exposing higher numbers of consumers to the potential of meat hazards, especially in Africa.

Food, especially meat safety, is a complex and multi-dimensional issue, with a diversity of hazards and challenges that need to be taken into consideration.   

Some hazards include microbial pathogens, resistance to anti-bacteria supplements, food additives, chemical residue and other possible contaminants. 

In addressing consumer concerns, meat safety challenges involve, among other issues, traceability issues, pathogen and chemical residue detection problems as well as regulatory issues. 

Most of the time, consumers trust the food they buy in shops and supermarkets will not make them ill and often do not even consider the possibility of any deleterious effects for their health. 

Scientific developments in the field of food safety, together with the development of food safety laws and enforcement, coupled with food safety communication, have played an important role in consumers’ ability to gain and maintain trust in the foods available for purchase on the market.

Associated with the unavailability of information for consumers, the differences between scientific evidence and consumers’ perceptions, information becomes more relevant if meat safety is regarded not only as an individual private matter that guarantees that a piece of meat will not result in illness, but also a public health matter, when one takes into consideration public health issues, such as those related to drug residues and anti-bacterial resistance.

In such context, consumers’ attitude towards food safety will have a major influence over their consumption options.  

If food safety concerns are present at the shopping decision moment, consumers may choose to buy a substitute product, as it occurred during several global beef crisis, amongst them the BSE crisis.

Moreover, consumers are known to often make irrational choices and have irrational concerns and preferences under certain circumstances, especially those related to their safety; even when information is abundant and transparent.

Within the EU, public policies have generally been preemptive in preventing food safety hazards (embracing the EU’s precautionary principle among other aspects), although there are known cases of reactive (as opposed to preventive) legal acts.   

The case of BSE is probably the most noticeable example, as establishing of new regulatory institutions and legislation were triggered by this food scare. 

In recent years, beef products have faced periods of great pressure, partly as a consequence of several food scares such as BSE in beef, dioxins in poultry and pigs or salmonella outbreaks in poultry. 

Additionally, foot-and-mouth disease and avian influenza have also had an influence on the European consumers’ buying behaviour, although they pose no known threat to human health.

For example, concerns related to beef, poultry and pork safety among German, Irish, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and British consumers were reported in 2000. 

Another found that 55 percent of Irish consumers surveyed were concerned about the safety of meat consumption despite the EU’s legislative laws.

In the UK, there were concerns regarding poultry safety. 

In Spain, a survey in 2007 found a general loss of confidence in meat products and that beef was considered the most ‘risky food’ product among most of the surveyed consumers.

These reported concerns were a problem for food markets in Europe as the beef market instability caused by BSE was strong enough to actually be acknowledged by the EU in Regulation 1760/2000

A European Commission, Eurobarometer Report (2006), mentions that 50 percent of consumers still express some concern about this disease. s

Similar values were obtained in Ireland.  

On the other hand, there are results showing that the level of concern for BSE was no greater than other safety issues

Food safety is not a permanent concern for many consumers. As time goes by, following a food scare, consumers tend to disregard such occurrence, progressively regaining some trust and recovering old consumption patterns. 

Today, Zimbabwean beef is still considered one of the safest in Africa.

Let us retain this reputation. 

Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD in Art Theory and Philosophy and a DBA (Doctorate in Business Administration) and Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is a writer, lecturer, musician, art critic, practising artist and corporate image consultant. He is also a specialist post-colonial scholar, Zimbabwean socio-economic analyst and researcher. For views and comments, email: tonym.MONDA@gmail.com

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest articles

Kariba Municipality commits to President’s service delivery blueprint

By Kundai Marunya IT is rare to find opposition-controlled urban councils throwing their weight on...

The resurgence of Theileriosis in 2024 

THE issues of global changes, climate change and tick-borne diseases cannot be ignored, given...

Britain haunted by its hostile policy on Zimbabwe

TWO critical lessons drawn from the recent debate on Zimbabwe in the British House...

The contentious issue of race

 By Nthungo YaAfrika AS much as Africans would want to have closure to many of...

More like this

Kariba Municipality commits to President’s service delivery blueprint

By Kundai Marunya IT is rare to find opposition-controlled urban councils throwing their weight on...

The resurgence of Theileriosis in 2024 

THE issues of global changes, climate change and tick-borne diseases cannot be ignored, given...

Britain haunted by its hostile policy on Zimbabwe

TWO critical lessons drawn from the recent debate on Zimbabwe in the British House...

Discover more from Celebrating Being Zimbabwean

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading