By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
Hog producers must prepare for increased scrutiny of their herds for signs of salmonella.
Veterinarian Greg Cline with Boehringer Ingelheim reminds producers the Food Safety Inspection Service will soon increase its salmonella monitoring, likely at the beginning of the new year.
Cline says though new rules might be coming, old practices remain the same.
“The things we’ve always known about reducing salmonella is the good husbandry practices,” Cline tells KFEQ in an interview. “Good sanitation between groups, rodent control. You know, we’ve been preaching that for a hundred years and it’s still true.”
No hog producers should be alarmed about the new regulations, though.
“I don’t know that I would consider them bad or ornery or difficult,” Cline says. “Anytime we can protect and improve food safety in pork it’s a good thing. Even though we wish it wasn’t the case, pork is still the third most common cause of salmonella food borne illness in people.”
Perception is always important. Cline says America must maintain its reputation for having a safe food supply. Cline points out Boehringer Ingelheim has vaccines that can help.
Cline advises to simply be aware of the changes coming and talk to your vet.
“Salmonella reduction on your facility is well worth doing,” Cline says. “Salmonella’s a robber of performance. It’s a great idea to go after reducing salmonella on your farm and in the future, it’s going to help you and your pork going forward.”
Cline says any steps to reduce the risk of salmonella is beneficial to the hog industry.