WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the first time cleared a meat product grown from animal cells for human consumption, the agency announced on Wednesday.

UPSIDE Foods, a company that makes cell-cultured chicken by harvesting cells from live animals and using the cells to grow meat in stainless-steel tanks, will be able to bring its products to market once it has been inspected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), said a release from the FDA.

“The world is experiencing a food revolution and the (FDA) is committed to supporting innovation in the food supply,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf and Susan Mayne, director of the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition in a statement.

The FDA said in documents released on Wednesday that it had reviewed data from the company and had no further questions about the company’s conclusion that its product is safe for humans to eat.

“We are thrilled at FDA’s announcement,” said David Kay, UPSIDE’s director of communications, in an email. “This historic step paves the way for our path to market.”

Leah Douglas / Reuters

Just confirmed today, the requirement for veterinary visits attestations  for export certs pushed back another year to 13/12/23

Certification of ‘regular vet visits’ for EU exports or NI movements

Date issued: 16 November 2022

Purpose
To inform Official Veterinarians (OVs) and other veterinary certifiers that for export of Products of Animal Origin (POAO) to the EU, the EU requirement for farms of origin to have a regular veterinary visit can be certified as follows:
i. Until 13 December 2023, this EU requirement can continue to be certified based on a farmer declaration.

ii. After 13 December 2023, farmer declarations will no longer be accepted and this EU requirement must be certified based on other evidence such as membership of a recognised farm assurance scheme or via a valid veterinary declaration.
The relevant official Notes for Guidance will be updated in due course to reflect this 12-month extension to the previous temporary policy.

Background
1. The EU Animal Health Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/429) created a new
requirement for farms producing animals or products of animal origin or germinal
products for export to the EU (or movements to Northern Ireland under the conditions
of the Northern Ireland Protocol) to be subject to ‘regular’ veterinary visits.

This is implemented by Article 8(e) Delegated Regulation 2020/692.
“must receive regular animal health visits from a veterinarian for the purpose of the
detection of, and information on, signs indicative of the occurrence of diseases,
including those listed diseases referred to in Annex I relevant for the particular species
and category of animal, germinal product or product of animal origin and emerging diseases.

Such animal health visits shall take place at frequencies that are
proportionate to the risks posed by the establishment concerned.”

2. Official Veterinarians (OVs) have had to certify compliance with this new requirement
since 15 January 2022.

3. Farmers only need to comply with this requirement if they are providing relevant animals
or products for export to the EU or for movements to Northern Ireland.

4. The regular veterinary visit requirement can be certified if the farm of origin is a
member of a recognised assurance including Red Tractor, Welsh Beef and Lamb
Producers and/or Quality Meat Scotland. A list of qualifying farm assurance schemes
has been published and will be reviewed on a regular basis.

5. The regular veterinary visit requirement can also be certified on the basis of a valid
veterinary declaration. A template Establishment Veterinary Visitation Declaration for
this purpose can be found on APHA Vet Gateway (ET242).

6. Until 13 December 2023, for farms that are not part of a recognised farm assurance
scheme and are not able to provide a valid veterinary declaration, a farmer declaration
can instead continue to be used to support certification of the EU ‘regular veterinary visit’
requirement. This can be provided via the Food Chain Information (FCI) document.

7. Farmers must use the available time to choose either to exclude their animals or products
from EU export, join a recognised farm assurance scheme or obtain an appropriate
veterinary declaration.

8. Defra will work closely with Official Veterinarians, the Royal College of Veterinary
Surgeons, farmers, markets and exporters to facilitate, where required, provision of
veterinary declarations to certifying OVs. We will issue further guidance in due course.

Action
Official Veterinarians (OVs) and certifiers providing Support Health Attestations at abattoirs
should note the updated guidance on certification of the EU requirement for regular
veterinary visits.
For further information please contact [email protected].

 

Gov.uk

The  Welsh Government have opened a consultation on requirements for slaughterhouse operators:

• To have CCTV in areas where there are live animals
• To allow enforcement agencies to access footage
• To store footage for a specified period

The consultation includes questions on our proposals with regards to:

• Enhanced welfare provision
• Greater enforcement
• Costs to businesses

 

By Amy Phipps / BBC

There have been 111 confirmed cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in England since 1 October 2022.

There have been 245 cases of (HPAI) H5N1 in England since the H5N1 outbreak started in October 2021.

If you’re in a bird flu disease zone you must follow the rules for that zone.

Update 15 November

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in commercial housed poultry on 15 November 2022 at a third premises near Oundle, North Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire (AIV 2022/203). A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone are in place around the premises. All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed on 15 November 2022 in other captive birds at a premises near Birdlip, Cotswold, Gloucestershire (AIV 2022/204). A 3km captive bird (monitoring) controlled zone been put in place around the premises. All birds on the infected premises will be humanely culled.

Update 14 November

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed in commercial poultry on 14 November 2022:

• near Doveridge, Derbyshire Dales, Derbyshire (AIV 2022/200)
• second premises near Oundle, North Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire (AIV 2022/201)

A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone are in place around the premises. All poultry on the premises will be humanely culled.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 was confirmed on 14 November 2022 in other captive birds at a premises near Arundel, Arun, West Sussex (AIV 2022/202). A 3km captive bird (monitoring) controlled zone been put in place around the premises. All birds on the infected premises will be humanely culled.

Manx National Farmers Union issues statement in response to audit report

Manx farmers have “consistently raised concerns” about the Island’s Meat Plant over the past few years.

That’s according to the Manx National Farmers Union, which has released a statement regarding a recent audit done of the plant.

In it, the union says it welcomes “the DEFA Minister’s commitment to rectifying the problems” at the plant.

The environment, food and agriculture minister will face questions in Tynwald today regarding the future of the business.

MNFU president Ean Parsons says persistent issues place financial pressure on the industry, which in turn affects farmers’ mental health.

He added that the many issues outlined in the report need to be sorted, to help rectify a cash shortage within the industry.

The MNFU’s statement in full states: “As the Manx National Farmers Union, we welcome the DEFA Minister’s commitment to rectifying the problems of the Meat Plant and believe that it is crucial that this commitment is carried out in its entirety. The Meat Plant is essential on the Isle of Man both for our food security and for the farming industry to have a route to market for their produce. 

“Three years ago, the Manx National Farmers Union were told by the then Chairman that ‘operational issues of the Meat Plant were none of your concern’. Since then, we have solely concentrated on the producer’s ability to get stock into the Plant and receive an equivalent payment level to UK producers.

During the last three years, we have consistently raised concerns with both the Plant Management team, Directors, and DEFA about the long lead-in times for producers to sell stock, especially during the autumn-winter period. At present, if a producer offers cattle into the Plant this week, they will not receive payment for those animals until February 2023. This is totally unacceptable and has created a cashflow crisis within the industry.

The pricing structure based on the AHDB is essential for the industry, yet it is not recognised within the report that the farmer doesn’t receive this level of payment in real terms. We have around 6% (24p/kg) deducted from that price by the Plant to distribute the meat to its customers and to pay for marketing, though it clearly shows there’s been nowhere near enough of that done.

continues..

 

Manx Radio

New restrictions on the import of pork meat and pork products have been introduced in Guernsey to limit the spread of African swine fever.

It has been made illegal to bring certain pork or pork products into the Bailiwick from Europe, excluding the UK.

The disease is found in Africa and Asia but recently has started spreading rapidly through areas of Europe, the States of Guernsey said.

The virus affects pigs but not humans.

It is a notifiable compulsory slaughter disease with a very high mortality rate in pigs, the government said.

David Chamberlain, States Veterinary Officer, said: “African swine fever has no effect on humans but has had a devastating impact on pigs across the world and continues to spread in Europe.

“It’s important that we do what we can to protect our local 300-plus pig population.”

He added: “We are keen to get the message out to travellers and those ordering Christmas hampers through the post, that they will not be able to import large, cured hams.”

 

BBC

Farmers are being told to expect delays for this years peak lamb kill, with the season expected to be longer due to labour shortages.

Processors have been struggling with staff shortages for the past two years due to the border closure and staff being off sick with Covid-19.

AgriHQs latest market update said staff shortages had been a major problem for some processing plants and in some cases lambs were sent back to the farm as there were not enough staff to process them all.

 

Alliance Group, which operates five meatworks in the South Island and two in the lower North Island, had not had to send lambs back, but farmers were experiencing wait times of 10 to 14 days.

General manager livestock and shareholder services Danny Hailes said plants were still processing old season lambs.

Its Lorneville plant had been undergoing maintenance, but would be up to speed next week and the Smithfield plant will ramp up quickly after a one week maintenance shutdown from 28 November, he said.

“Any backlog that we have will be cleared pretty swiftly.”

 

Lorneville would start on two chains and would be operating six by Christmas. There was a goal of getting a seventh processing chain operating in the new year subject to labour.

Staffing had slightly improved with the border reopening but it was still not straightforward to bring in workers from overseas.

“We’re doing our best to get labour in from overseas in a way that suits our seasonal ramp up, but the reality is that we won’t have the numbers of people at the time that we want.”

Farmers should have their lambs processed as soon as they’re ready, he said. “Don’t hold off any longer than you need to.”

 

Silver Fern Farms chief supply chain officer Dan Boulton expected the labour situation to be marginally better than last season.

“However that’s coming off a relatively low base and so we still expect some disruption and delay in the season ahead.

“We’ve got to acknowledge that it’s been a long and challenging few seasons for many of our site staff, and our processing volumes will also be determined by how much sustainable overtime can be achieved without impacting our staff well-being.”

 

by Sally Murphy  / RNZ

 

A Bury St Edmunds meat plant is to close, it has been confirmed, placing hundreds of jobs at risk of redundancy.

Pilgrim’s UK has decided to close its Dalehead Foods site in a phased process.

Another of the company’s sites, at Coalville, in Leicestershire, will also shut as part of the firm’s recovery plan.

A spokesperson at Pilgrim’s UK said, “Following the conclusion of collective and one-to-one consultations, Pilgrim’s UK has made the decision to implement the proposals to close our Bury and Coalville manufacturing sites.

“This will be a phased process while the transfer of products to alternative Pilgrim’s UK sites takes place. “We would like to thank all of those involved in the process for their outstanding professionalism and high-quality levels of service maintained during what we recognise has been a challenging time.

In September, the firm announced the proposed closures and embarked on a consultation process as it launched a business recovery plan across its UK operations.

 

 By Camille Berriman / Suffolk News

 

 

BBC