Systematic animal health monitoring

In Germany, no pig, poultry or beef is slaughtered without its organs being examined by an official veterinarian after slaughter. In the QS system, the collection, documentation and feedback of organ findings have long been an important tool for evaluating animal health and thus making a decisive contribution to food safety. The findings data collected during the official ante-mortem and meat inspection have been recorded in a central findings database at QS since 2016. All slaughterhouses that slaughter pigs pass comprehensive data on to the QS findings database. In 2018 alone, these are results from 30 million slaughter pigs. This means that 95 percent of the animals slaughtered weekly in Germany are recorded - comprehensive and systematic animal health monitoring.

The results so far show a much better picture than was recently assumed in press releases: 90,2% of the fattening pigs have healthy lungs. 93,7% show no abnormalities in the pericardium, 89% have no changes in the liver. Joint changes were found in only 1% of the fattening pigs delivered. Figures that are clearly different from those published by Greenpeace, Four Paws and foodwatch.

The Animal Health Index
For animal owners and veterinarians, slaughter results are important indicators of animal welfare and animal health on the farm. They provide valuable information on diseases of the animals as well as deficits in feeding and management. On August 1st, 2018, the Animal Health Index (TGI) was calculated for all pig farms in the QS scheme for the first time. This shows the results from the slaughterings in the first half of 1. This gives farmers the opportunity to evaluate the slaughtering results of the animals they have delivered and to compare themselves with other farmers. The index is based on the results of official ante-animal and meat inspection.

The values ​​are between 0 and 100. Good carcass ratings result in a higher value, abnormalities lead to devaluations. If low values ​​are determined based on detection rates, the farmer should identify possible deficits in his farm and check whether operational measures, such as changing the climate control in the barn, are necessary.

Finding data acquisition in poultry
In the case of poultry, data on footpad health, mortality during animal transport and mortality on the fattening farm are collected in the QS scheme for each slaughter batch. The condition of the foot pads enables an assessment of the litter, climate, feed, intestinal health and herd management to be given. The mortality in the herd allows conclusions to be drawn about the state of health of the herd. Based on the transport losses, some statements could be made about the vitality of the herd and the increase in the proportion of weakened animals. Since the beginning of 2018, the findings from the slaughter of turkeys and broilers have been recorded in a findings database. Initial assessments by experts show that the proportion of poultry flocks with a high proportion of footpad changes, which can be used as an indicator of deficits in animal husbandry, is low.

QS Qualitäts und Sicherheit GmbH is the system provider and carrier of the QS testing system for food. The standards defined by QS specify verifiable production criteria for all stages of the value chain - from the animal feed industry to the strict food retail trade. The system is characterized by the cross-stage monitoring of these criteria as well as the traceability of the agricultural products and the food made from them. More than 109.000 companies from the animal feed, agriculture, slaughtering/cutting, processing, butcher's trade, wholesale and food retail sectors as well as almost 23.000 companies from the fresh fruit, vegetable and potato sectors have so far decided to participate in the QS inspection system for food.

https://www.q-s.de

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