Control of public health hazards in pork- current status of knowledge and future challenges.

The range of public health hazards that may occur in pork is very broad including both microbiological pathogens as well as chemical substances. Major international incidents recently highlighted the importance of managing risk at an international level. Control programmes targeted at selected pathogens have been introduced in a significant number of countries over the past years. Most notably, the control of Salmonella along the pork production chain represents a substantial effort of pork producers and veterinary services to reduce public health risk. But the control of traditional hazards such as Trichinella also still require substantial resources, while new hazards such as bacteria with resistance against antimicrobials also demand increasing attention. As funds available for risk management are limited, priorities need to be set. To set the right priorities will be a key challenge for the effective and efficient control of pork-related hazards in increasingly global food systems. Also, there is currently a lack of intervention strategies with proven effectiveness against a number of major pork-borne pathogens such as Campylobacter. Control of such hazards can only progress if technically and economically feasible strategies are available. An additional challenge for pork industries but also governments is risk communication, specifically the prevention of negative market impact by unsubstantiated risks perceived by consumers