Page 606 of articles about news in Swine news

Korea is becoming more attractive for Polish pork suppliers, especially now that the European Union has approved a budget for the promotion of pork products to Korea. Starting this year the Polish Chamber of Commerce along with suppliers will be promoting their products all over the nation, including the International Food Fair at KINTEX in May and a food promotion event at the Hyatt Hotel just before the big fair.

In the spring and summer of 2008 researchers from the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences examined no less than 3,831 lactating sows on 98 different farms. The results showed that 17.2 percent of the lactating sows had shoulder ulcers to a greater or smaller degree on one or both shoulders.

Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald today said the State’s capacity to control and eradicate emergency animal diseases would be significantly enhanced by a new animal health database being rolled out across NSW.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) have published their Community Zoonoses Report for 2007. The Report shows that although figures varied considerably between Member States, Campylobacter infections still topped the list of zoonotic diseases in the European Union and that the number of cases due to Salmonella infections in humans fell for the fourth year in a row. Cases of listeriosis remained at the same level.

A recent survey in HCM City revealed that about 70 per cent of dried pork skin, a traditional Vietnamese food, in city markets was contaminated with bacteria. The majority of bacteria found in the surveyed skin were coliforms, E.Coli, B.cereus, C.perfringens and S.aureus.

A team of university researchers are looking for Welsh and Scottish farmers and abattoir workers to take part in a study of E. coli O157. The study is part of a three year Rural Economy and Land Use (RELU) project called ‘Reducing E. coli O157 risk in rural communities’ led by Professor Ken Killham, chair of Soil Science at the University of Aberdeen.

Cows and pigs cloned from somatic cells and the offspring of such clones are safe to be used for food, a governmental food safety panel has concluded. In the near future, an expert panel on newly developed food and the Food Safety Commission will discuss the issue, and will report the results of their evaluation to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare. Based on this, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will consider whether to lift a ban on using beef and pork from somatic cell clones.

In India, Minister Ritz signed Canada’s first agricultural Memorandum of Understanding with India to create a framework to expand agricultural trade between the two countries. During his meeting with Minister Pawar, Minister Ritz also discussed live swine, pork and bovine embryos. Minister Ritz announced that Minister Pawar agreed to work toward opening access for Canadian pork.

Since 1st January 2009, all pigs bought by Dutch slaughterhouses must have been castrated under anaesthesia.(Original in Dutch. Read Google translation here).

The Council has taken note of the request made by the French delegation and supported by other delegations regarding the pork sector. The French delegation presented a request concerning the granting of private storage aid for up to 100 000 tonnes. Commissioner Fischer Boel stated that no market supporting measures will be introduced at this stage.

Although authorized by Congress, no funds have yet been appropriated and FARAD has begun the process of shutting down due to a lack of operating funds.

Russian authorities have decided to suspend imports of meat from the Cooperl slaughterhouse in Lamballe (Côtes-d'Armor).(Original in French. Read Google translation here).

Under the proposed change in packaging specifications made by Mexican officials, the use of combo bins – the large, cardboard containers that hold approximately 2,000 pounds of fresh meat products used almost universally in the U.S. meat industry – would be banned and all meat products would have to be boxed.

For the first 11 months of 2008, pork and pork variety meat exports were 61 percent larger than 2007, nearing the 2 million metric ton mark (1,898,698 metric tons or 4.18 billion pounds). 2008 pork exports through 11 months were valued at $4.5 billion, an increase of 59 percent.

According to the latest forecasts the level of swine production of the UE-27 is expected to fall by 3.5% in the first six months of 2009 compared to the same period of 2008.

China announced a slew of measures aimed at preventing any possible long-term slide in pork prices to ensure a steady output and help protect growers' income. The government will step in to help adjust supply and demand to ease the pressure of price fluctuations, if needed, according to a statement published late Tuesday on the National Development and Reform Commission's Web site.