Finnish Salmonella Control Program -- Efficiency and Viability in Food Safety Promotion

When joining the EU, Finland was granted a permission to run its own food safety policy concerning Salmonella. The policy is called Finnish Salmonella Control Program (FSCP) and it covers the main animal production lines: pork, beef, poultry, and also the products thereof e.g. meat and eggs. By committing to follow an EU Commission approved national program Finland received so called additional guarantees from the EU. These guarantees allow it to require respective salmonella protection levels from similar products imported to the country. In order to continue the program its economic efficiency has to be thoroughly evaluated. The objective of FCSP is that no more than 1% of the animals and meat should be contaminated with Salmonella at the national level. Respectively, at the abattoir or meat cutting plant level the goal is 5% . These quite strict objectives were reached well in 1995-2001. The industry is responsible for running the program in practice. National authorities have their emphasis in coordination, collecting of data and supervision. The costs of the program are almost fully carried by the industry. This paper evaluates the efficiency and viability of FSCP as a whole. It can be concluded, that money used running the program is well-spent: health benefits produced, estimated either using a cost-of-illness type of calculations or a willingness-to-pay measure from a consumer survey are many times larger than the costs of the program. In the end it can be concluded that FSCP is a good example of economically viable tool for sustaining public health.food safety, salmonella control, policy evaluation, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

The organic food supply chain in relation to information management and the interaction between actors

Conventional retailers play a significant role in selling organic food, and therefore, it is important to understand how the demand - supply chain of organic food works as an element of the conventional food system. The proportion of organic food in the conventional food chains is small, and this poses a great challenge to the performance of the chain. Surveys and case specific studies on consumers and supply chain actors indicate that the changes in the conventional food system have an impact on the organic chain. The main obstacles to the optimisation of the organic food chain include poor information management, insufficient communication with consumers, and the diverging objectives and needs of the actors of the chain

Tutkitun tiedon teemavuonna

YK:n ihmisoikeuksien yleismaailmallisen julistuksen 27. artiklan mukaan jokaisella on oikeus vapaasti osallistua yhteiskunnan sivistyselämään, nauttia taiteista sekä päästä osalliseksi tieteen mukanaan tuomista eduista. Elämme murrosten aikaa ja monet samanaikaiset muutokset haastavat niin yksilöt, yhteisöt ja kuin kansakunnatkin pohtimaan ja muokkaamaan toimintaansa. Tutkittu tieto tuo etuja, koska se auttaa meitä usein monimutkaistenkin muutosten keskellä paremmin ymmärtämään toisiamme ja ympäristöämme ja löytämään ratkaisuja arkisiin ja koko ihmiskuntaa koskettaviin haasteisiin. Siksi tutkitulle tiedolle on nyt kysyntää ehkä enemmän kuin koskaan aiemmin

Costs and Benefits of Two Alternative Salmonella Control Policies in Finnish Broiler Production

In this study, costs and benefits of two Salmonella control options in broiler production were compared. The first option was to control Salmonella as set by Council Directive 92/117/EEC, so-called Zoonosis Directive. The second option was more intense control programme, the so-called Finnish Salmonella control programme. The costs of controlling Salmonella in primary and secondary production and the direct and indirect losses due to Salmonella infection in humans in both options were compared. The national control option was found to be economically feasible. One prevented loss of life covered all the control costs of the national programme.Salmonella, broiler, cost-benefit, control, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety,

Costs of two alternative Salmonella control policies in Finnish broiler production

BACKGROUND: Costs and benefits of two Salmonella control policies for broiler production were described and compared. The control options were the Zoonosis Directive 92/117/EC and the more intense strategy, the Finnish Salmonella Control Programme (FSCP). METHODS: The comparison included the Salmonella control costs in primary and secondary production and the direct and indirect losses due to Salmonella infections in humans in 2000. RESULTS: The total annual costs of the FSCP were calculated to be 990 400 EUR (0.02 €/kg broiler meat). The average control costs in the broiler production chain were seven times higher with the FSCP than with the Zoonosis Directive alone. However, the public health costs were 33 times higher with the Zoonosis Directive alone. The value of one prevented loss of life per year exceeded the annual control costs of the FSCP. CONCLUSION: Due to significant savings in public health costs compared to costs of FSCP, the FSCP was found to be economically feasible

Arctic nettle, from weed to money

Nettle has gained a lot of interest recently and its cultivation is starting industrially in other European countries. Few companies in Lapland and other parts of Finland are presently using nettle in their products but they are facing issues in raw material supply, especially organic raw-material. The objective of ARKNOKK was to establish the basis for a nettle value chain in Lapland. Nettle grows rapidly and cultivation techniques are known. Although its establishment may be challenging, a nettle field can be productive for 10 years. In ARKNOKK, raw-material yields were optimized using organic cultivation methods. In addition to the common stinging nettle (Urtica dioica ssp dioica, “etelännokkonen”), we took advantage of a northern subspecies (U. dioica ssp. Sondenii, “pohjannokkonen”) which is rare, has few horns but can be cultivated as well. Several companies interested in nettle raw material were partners of ARKNOKK. One valuable application of nettle in Lapland that was tested in the project was winter supplementary feeding of reindeer. The main results of ARKNOKK were: - Nettle thrives well in conditions of Northern Finland and satisfying yields were obtained (4.6 ± 2.7 t DW/ha shoots) with up to 4 harvests/season. The best planting system in our conditions in Lappia, Loue was strawberry ridges, with plastic mulching for easier weed control. - Bioactive composition did not significantly vary among nettles from 12 different Finnish origins. Best accessions of ssp dioica and ssp Sondenii were selected. Accessions are also conserved as in vitro cultures and seeds produced from selected parents have been produced. - Nettle-supplemented winter feed brings benefits to reindeer well-being but at present, the higher cost of nettle-supplemented feed would restrict its use to reindeers involved in racing, or tourism activities. Several challenges for the establishment of a nettle value chain were identified: - A controlled seed availability is lacking. - Field establishment using direct seeding is unsuccessful. Seedlings planting is effective but expensive and commercial production of seedlings is lacking. - Nettle leaves need to be processed rapidly after harvest and the access to post-harvest processing facilities is challenging, especially in remote areas. - The price competition with non-Finnish nettle is strong. - The Finnish production presently relies on too few producers. - The nettle-based products are limited, and the market still immature. Further research is necessary to address those challenges. Nettle represents an interesting alternative crop, especially in Northern Finland where the choice of cultivable crops is limited due to harsh environmental conditions. Nettle is a perennial, endogenous plant, with low input requirements. Although it has many application potentials, building a reliable and profitable nettle value chain is now challenging due to the lack of several actors, especially at the level of post-harvest processing and product development.202