What's New ? - 2017

The EU Commission's proposal to deny authorization of formaldehyde as a feed additive for use as a preservative and hygiene condition enhancer has been backed by a qualied majority of EU countries. The Commission’s draft regulation claimed the advantages of formaldehyde did not compensate for the inherent health risks for users handling the substance despite an EFSA opinion concluding the substance could be authorized as long as adequate control measures are implemented to limit the risks for workers.

Land- en Tuinbouw Organisatie Nederland (LTO) is filing a lawsuit against the country’s food safety authority NVWA, claiming that the agency’s negligence in the way it handled the situation of fipronil use in egg production caused financial losses to the country’s egg producers earlier this year. Despite the warning in November 2016, NVWA decided not to investigate the situation until the chemical was detected in eggs in June 2017.

The outlook for the global poultry industry for 2018 is promising. This promising outlook includes ongoing demand growth in most markets, except China, and lower feed prices in the first half of 2018, if not longer. The main concerns for 2018 are avian influenza returning during the Northern Hemisphere winter and increasingly competitive market conditions due to a growing red meat supply (pork and beef). Global prices for chicken have remained strong, especially for whole chicken and breast meat, but dark meat prices have fallen. Competition from red meat will grow next year amid rising supplies and softening prices, the report noted.

The latest FAO Food Outlook, including the latest forecast for how the global meat industry developed in 2017, has now been published. World meat production is forecast to recover in 2017, increasing by just over 1% to 324.8 million tonnes. This follows from moderate increases in bovine, pig and poultry meats and a modest gain in ovine meat. After two years of downsizing associated with an on-going process of reforms, meat production in China, the world’s largest meat producer, is expected to remain stable around the 2016 level.

A huge increase in the cost of vitamins and synthetic pigments will add to poultry feed costs over the coming months. Reasons for the increase include China significantly scaling back its production of vitamins A and E in an effort to reduce factory emissions, and a large fire at the BASF plant in Ludwigshafen, Germany. This plant is one of the world’s primary suppliers of vitamins and colourants and it is not expected to be up and running again until April at the earliest. The German factory produced 50 per cent of vitamins A and E on the market.

The proposed Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry, currently open for public consultation, will if approved form the basis of federal and state legislation on poultry welfare. If approved, battery cages will not be phased out of Australia’s chicken farms. The draft standards mark a significant step forward in poultry welfare in Australia, moving from the existing voluntary system to national regulation. A supporting paper to the standards argues that extra cage space does not guarantee better welfare for hens. Further, it claims that battery cages allow better inspection and more efficient management of the birds, the biosecurity risks and the environmental impact.

Correlating with new reports that Brazil exported more chicken than ever in August, recalls of chicken and other poultry meats in Q3 in Europe were higher than any other food category for the second quarter in a row, and Brazil was the top country of origin, the latest Recall Index from Stericycle Expert Solutions finds. However, compared with Q2, recalls relating to poultry dropped from 223 to 137 over the last three months, with those that originated in Brazil reducing by 56.9%. This indicates an improvement for the country, which had to conduct an intensive investigation into the alleged bribing of food safety inspectors after many countries, including those in the EU, curtailed its meat imports.

Eli Lilly & Co. said it could spin off or sell its animal health business, a segment that contributed 15% of the pharmaceutical company's revenue last year but has been pressured in recent years by competition. Lilly's Elanco Animal Health Business sells treatments and vaccines for pets and livestock. The unit brought in $740.6 million of revenue in the third quarter, up 5% from a year ago. Overall the company's third-quarter revenue was $5.66 billion.

For the first time beginning this Thanksgiving, consumers will be able to trace "Honeysuckle White" brand turkeys from a family farm to their table. The company’s Honeysuckle White brand recently launched a pilot project that uses blockchain technology to trace turkeys produced by family farmers.

France can now sell foie gras in Japan again, following a ban on exports due to two outbreaks of avian influenza. Japan is the largest importer of the delicacy, whose production involves force-feeding birds, massively engorging their liver. An outbreak of the H5N1 virus in 2015-16 and a further outbreak of H5N8 during 2016-17 deprived France of the status necessary to export outside Europe, cutting off important markets in Japan, China and Saudi Arabia.

Big Chicken, a new book by McKenna (health journalist) lays out in extensive detail how antibiotics transformed chicken from local delicacy to industrial commodity - and human health threat. In this riveting investigative narrative, McKenna dives deep into the world of modern agriculture by way of chicken: from the farm where it’s raised directly to your dinner table. Consumed more than any other meat in the United States, chicken is emblematic of today’s mass food-processing practices and their profound influence on our lives and health.

Argentina will soon begin exporting poultry meat to Canada, after the North American country's Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has accepted the sanitary requirements for certification of shipments of the product.

The overall use of antimicrobials for animals decreased in 2016, for the third consecutive year, by approximately 5% compared with 2015. The decrease was mainly driven by the use of antimicrobials for pigs, which was 4% less than the year before. Following on from two years with several serious disease outbreaks, the poultry production (excl. turkeys) sharply reduced antimicrobial use in 2016, returning to the same levels as before the disease outbreaks. The use of critically important antimicrobials in food production animals remained low. The use of colistin for pigs increased by further 40 kg in 2016. The use of colistin in production animals is of concern, since it has becoming increasingly important as a last resort antimicrobial in human medicine. The increase in colistin use for pigs has likely been caused by a shift from other antimicrobial agents.

Taiwan finds eggs contaminated with Fipronil on three farms. Excessive levels of fipronil have been found in eggs produced at three farms in Taiwan. Agricultural authorities tested samples from 45 farms around the island and found those from three farms in Changhua contaminated. The three farms are subject to strict controls that prohibit eggs from leaving their premises and eggs that have already been shipped will be removed from stores and destroyed.

The government offered an apology for the ballooning concerns over food safety stemming from eggs contaminated with illegal insecticides or chemicals, while promising to beef up a nationwide system to prevent similar cases from recurring. "I sincerely apologize for causing inconvenience and concerns," Agriculture Minister Kim Yung-rok said in a press conference held in Sejong. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it has completed inspections on 1,239 egg farms and related facilities nationwide and found out that a total of 49 farms (4%) had used illegal insecticides.

In 2016, the poultry meat sector used 23.72 tonnes of antibiotics and achieved a 71% reduction in the net use of antibiotics compared to 2012. In the last 4 years, poultry meat production has increased by 11% (1.79m tonnes in 2016). In 2015, the industry used only 13% of the total antibiotics licensed for use in food producing animals as compared to 21% in 2012. The farmers stopped using Polymyxins (Colistin) since 2016, minimised the use of CIAs ('critically important for human medicine') in the last five years.

Aviagen, announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase Hubbard Breeders, the broiler genetics division of Groupe Grimaud. The agreement between the two companies was signed on July 31, 2017, and will be concluded later this year. As part of the agreement, Hubbard will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Aviagen Group, under the direction of Aviagen CEO Jan Henriksen. It will remain an independent broiler breeding company with separate breeding and commercial activities, and will continue to be headquartered in France.

Over 180 poultry farms have been banned from bringing their eggs to market following the discovery of a batch of eggs containing fipronil, a pesticide used to eliminate chicken lice. The Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA) announced there would be more product codes for eggs found to contain the harmful substance fipronil. Fipronil is an insecticide used in veterinary medicine fleas, mites, lice and ticks.

In 2016, EU poultry meat production grew in volume by 4.4 % compared to 2015, reaching 14.4 million t. Growth was driven by expanding production in Poland (+13 % or +257 300 t). EU production continued to rise in the first quarter of 2017, though at a lower rate (+1.9 %), as there has been a avian influenza epidemic since November 2016. With one exception, the countries that recorded the highest number of avian influenza cases saw a reduction in output: Bulgaria (-12.5 %), Hungary (-7.3 %), Germany (-1.3 %) and France (-0.2 %). Poland bucked the trend by increasing production, but only by 1.1 %. These reductions were offset by significant increases in other major producers less affected by the epidemic: the Netherlands (+1.6 %), Spain (+3.9 %) and the UK (+10.5 %). Overall, EU production is expected to increase by 1.7 % in 2017, in a context of strong competition and export restrictions on countries affected by avian influenza.

Sales of antimicrobial veterinary medicinal products in 2016 (176 tonnes) showed a remarkable reduction (15%) compared to 2015 (206 tonnes). In relation to 2009, the index year used by the Ministry of Economic Affairs, in 2016 total sales decreased by 64.4%. Compared to 2007, the year with highest sales (565 tonnes), the decrease in sales is 69%. Most classes of antibiotics showed a decrease in sales in 2016, but some increased. In all but one sectors (veal calves, dairy cattle, pigs broilers and turkeys) a reduction in consumption was realized. In other cattle increased consumption is noted, albeit this consumption is low.

Shimon was born in Israel in 1956, the son of holocaust survivors. His father, Professor Kalman Perk, was the founder and first principal of Israel’s only Veterinary School. Shimon studied agriculture at the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, from 1979-1981. During his studies there Shimon met Rachel, and they married in 1980. On completing their studies, Shimon and Rachel went together to Madrid to study veterinary medicine. On graduation in 1987 they travelled to Gainesville, Florida to complete a year of internship (1988), after which they returned to Israel and Shimon started work as a poultry clinician at the regional poultry laboratory at Har-Tuv, Jerusalem. Shimon completed the poultry expert qualification in 1993, and in 1997 he was appointed manager of the regional poultry laboratory at Hadera. In addition to this position he was also given responsibility for the field control of veterinary medicines, in which role he was responsible in the year 2000 for the exposure of widesprea

Health Canada announced new rules for veterinary drugs that will better protect Canadians against Antimicrobial resistance (AMR); Changes to the Food and Drug Regulations include: Restricting the personal importation of certain veterinary drugs for food-producing animals; Requiring companies to follow stricter guidelines to ensure the quality of their active pharmaceutical ingredients; Requiring manufacturers, importers and compounders of veterinary drugs to report annual sales of medically important antimicrobial drugs to Health Canada to enable better surveillance; Introducing a more flexible and risk-appropriate framework to make importation simpler for low-risk veterinary health products, including products that may be used as alternatives to antimicrobial drugs.

The combined value of production from broilers, eggs, turkeys, and the value of sales from chickens in 2016 was $38.7 billion, down 20 percent from $48.1 billion in 2015. Of the combined total, 67 percent was from broilers, 17 percent from eggs, 16 percent from turkeys, and less than 1 percent from chickens. The value of broilers produced during 2016 was $25.9 billion, down 10 percent from 2015. The total number of broilers produced in 2016 was 8.78 billion, up 1 percent from 2015. The total amount of live weight broilers produced in 2016 was 54.3 billion pounds, up 2 percent from 2015. The value of turkeys produced during 2016 was $6.18 billion, up 8 percent from the $5.71 billion the previous year. The total number of turkeys raised in 2016 was 244 million, up 5 percent from 2015. Turkey production in 2016 totaled 7.49 billion pounds, up 6 percent from the 7.04 billion pounds produced in 2015.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year at least 23,000 people in the United States lose their lives to antibiotic-resistant infections and an additional two million are sickened. America's leading grocery chains are failing to address overuse of antibiotics in chicken, according to a report from the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The report evaluates and grades the five largest grocery retailers in North America - Costco, Publix, Walmart, Albertsons/Safeway, and Kroger - on their offerings of chicken brands from producers with responsible antibiotics practices and their public commitment to appropriate antibiotic use in food animals.

NY Livestock Market, Inc., a Brooklyn, N.Y. establishment, is recalling approximately 1,500 pounds of poultry products that may be contaminated with nitrofurazone. The problem was discovered through routine testing performed by FSIS inspection personnel for the National Residue Program.

A new report by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that chicken and meat processing workers faced some of the highest risks for severe injuries (data on severe injuries reported to the agency from Jan. 2015 to Sept. 2016). 180 severe injuries were reported to OSHA by poultry processing firms during the period, making poultry processing rank 12th among industries with the highest employer severe injury reporting in the U.S. Two smaller companies that stand out among those reporting large numbers of severe workplace injuries are both in the chicken and meat processing industry: Tyson Foods, with one-tenth the size of Walmart’s workforce (approximately 93,000 workers nationwide), has the fourth-highest number of reported severe injuries; and JBS/Pilgrim’s Pride, another poultry and meat company, holds the sixth-highest spot.

India is currently second fastest growing processed meat and poultry market globally with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 22%. Indonesia stands first in this category with 26.7% CAGR between 2011 and 2015 followed by Vietnam at 15.5%, China at 13.9% and Brazil at 10.9%.

A group of animal rights movement, Direct Action Everywhere have placed deprecating stickers on egg cartons in stores. The tactic is similar to the action by a deranged individual in the New England states who places GMO stickers on food products.

Excessive dioxin residues have been found in eggs from three chicken farms in Changhua County. The FDA ordered the farms to immediately suspend sales and retailers to take merchandise from the farms off their shelves. The farms have between 80,000 and 90,000 chickens which are estimated to produce 65,000 eggs per day.

More than $1.2 billion worth of livestock and poultry products were exported over the 11 months to February 18, registering a $554.7 million trade surplus in the sector. Around 62,600 tons of chicken worth $77.3 million, 750,000 tons of milk ($683 million) and 800,000 tons of eggs ($53.5 million) were exported during the 11-month period.

The Canadian Federation of Humane Societies has endorsed new Code of Practice for Egg Production. The National Farm Animal Care Council code calls for producers to work toward phasing out the use of small, cramped cages for hens over the next 15 years, and sets new care standards for the birds. It is expected that conventional battery cages will be phased out by 2036. Last May, Retail Council of Canada members including Loblaw, Metro Inc., Overwaitea Food Group, Save-On-Foods, Sobeys Inc., and Wal-Mart Canada Corp., announced they plan to purchase cage-free eggs by the end of 2025.

Brazilian investigators charge that health inspectors were bribed to overlook the sale of expired meats. Police also allege that the appearance and smell of expired meats was improved by using chemicals and cheaper products like water and manioc flour. Police named BRF SA and JBS SA, along with dozens of smaller rivals, in a two-year probe into how meatpackers allegedly paid off inspectors to overlook practices including processing rotten meat, shipping exports with traces of salmonella and simply not carrying out inspections of plants. JBS is the world's largest meat producer and BRF the biggest poultry exporter.

The National Chicken Council recently released a report on the environmental and economic impact of converting to slow-growing strains. Converting only one-third of U.S. broiler production, estimated to attain 41,550 million pounds of ready-to-cook chicken in 2017, to slow-growing strains would require an additional 1.5 billion birds annually to produce the same quantity currently produced with highly selected broiler strains.

In 2015 Polish poultry production amounted to 2,386,000 MT and was 7 percent higher than in the previous year. The increase of production stems from growing domestic consumption, as consumers substitute beef with poultry which is perceived as healthier and cheaper meat, and increasing exports mainly to other EU member states. Poultry meat production consists mainly of chicken broilers (81%), turkey broilers (14%) which are in demand for the domestic meat processing industry, and ducks and geese which are mainly exported to Western Europe, mainly Germany. It is estimated that in 2016 poultry production will increase by additional 15 percent in comparison to 2015. Poultry meat productionis based on locally produced grains (mainly corn) and 2 million tons of soybean meal imported mainly from South America or the United States.