Salmonella finds in Denmark with highly resistant germs [III]

On the occasion of the discovery of salmonella-contaminated turkey meat imported from Germany by Danish food experts, the consumer protection officer of the CDU / CSU parliamentary group, Ursula Heinen MdB, explains:

Every year in summer the discussion about contaminated food starts again. As a reminder, last year there were residues of pesticides in imported peppers. This year, Danish food experts have found a salmonella germ in turkey meat imported from Germany that is resistant to almost all classes of antibiotics available today. Since the only remedy that helps, according to the Danes, is not approved in human medicine, this germ poses a significant health risk for the consumer in the event of illness. After the Danish institute initially did not want to reveal which slaughterhouse the meat came from, the The Danish government has now informed the state of North Rhine-Westphalia via the federal government that the salmonella strain "Salmonella anatum" has been detected in a sample of vacuum-packed turkey legs from a North Rhine-Westphalian cutting plant.

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Beef exports to France are to be increased significantly

The Irish have increased their marketing of beef in France. The aim is to achieve an annual export volume of 50.000 tonnes in the medium term, which corresponds to the magnitude of Irish beef sales to France before the BSE crisis. As reported by the German Farmers' Association (DBV), 24.000 tons of beef were sold last year, and at least 30.000 tons are expected for the current year. To achieve this, the Irish launched an 'awareness campaign' aimed at food retailers in autumn 2003, including gifts to the managers of 1.400 French supermarkets and hypermarkets and competitions with prizes in the form of whiskey and weekend breaks in Ireland. In addition to this, test sales with surveys were carried out in seven hypermarkets from November 2003 to April 2004. In terms of quality and safety, the goods are largely classified “like local meat”, but according to a number of customers they offer a “more favorable price/quality ratio”.

The surveys carried out as part of the test sales also revealed that the effect of the "race concept" strongly emphasized in French meat marketing is obviously overestimated: 21 percent of meat buyers are indifferent to the breed of cattle, and 28 percent of them are unable to spontaneously identify the breed to name from which a piece of meat selected by them came. However, French consumers are much better informed about the origin and know 90 percent of the country of origin of the goods they buy. According to various surveys, between 12 and 25 percent of the beef customers surveyed had reservations about beef from abroad. The expiry date, external impression, price and the type of part turned out to be the ultimate purchase criteria.

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Pig trading day in Burg Warberg on 7./8. Sep 2004

The traditional pig trading day of the Burg Warberg Federal Educational Institute and the Central Market and Price Report Office (ZMP) will take place this year on September 7th and 8th, 2004 at Warberg Castle. At the conference, future market and price developments will be discussed. The event, which is organized in cooperation with the German Farmers' Association (DBV), the Association of the Meat Industry (VDF), the Federal Association of the German Meat Industry (BVDF) and the Interest Group of Pig Farmers North-West Germany, has meanwhile developed into an industry meeting of the meat industry ( ISN) developed.

In lectures, well-known representatives from politics and business will address the future, competitiveness and economic sustainability of Germany as a location for the meat industry. Topics such as comparing slaughterhouse prices are also highlighted, as is the importance of meat for healthy nutrition. In a subsequent panel discussion, representatives of the meat industry will speak about competitiveness in the meat industry, taking into account current developments and structural adjustments.

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The use of female cohort animals for breeding and milk production should no longer be ruled out. As Health Minister Werner Schnappauf explained, Bavaria will launch a corresponding Federal Council initiative. "Consumer protection against BSE must remain at a high level. Cohort animals must therefore continue to be prevented from entering the food chain and must be disposed of harmlessly. However, according to scientific knowledge, the use of these animals for breeding and milk production is considered harmless for consumer safety." , stressed Schnappauf.

With the proposed Bundesrat resolution, the federal government should be called upon to campaign for a corresponding legal change in the EU. So far, AI bulls, which can be used for breeding until the end of their useful life, have been excluded from the immediate killing requirement. This exception in EU law goes back to a decision by the International Organization for Epizootics (OIE). At the same time, the OIE advocated the use of female cohort animals. However, this has not yet been transposed into EU law. Cohort animals are animals in a herd that were born one year before or after the "BSE animal" or were reared together in the first year of life.

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Production and imports increased again

In Japan, pork consumption, which has been growing for several years, increased again in the past fiscal year from April 2003 to March 2004, rising by 2,5 percent to 1,66 million tons. The volume of 1999/2000 was thus exceeded by ten percent. The increased use of pork in Japan is partly due to consumer uncertainty caused by avian influenza and BSE. Denmark's second most important supplier

However, the increased pork consumption could only be partly covered by the company's own production. Although Japanese production increased by 2003 percent to around 04 tons of pork in 2,4/891.800, that was only a good half of demand. The remaining demand was covered by increasing imports, which increased by 4,2 percent to 778.700 tons. The main supplier for the Japanese market was the USA, which at 245.600 tons came from 0,7 percent less than a year earlier. Denmark followed closely, exporting 233.450 percent more to the Far East with 5,4 tons. Canada was in third place with 172.400 tons, which recorded an increase of 2,4 percent.

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Development varies depending on the area

In Belgium, the organic market had to accept quite strong losses overall in the past year, but the development in the various market areas as well as between the types of shop was very different. According to panel data from the Society for Consumer Research (GfK) in Nuremberg, sales of organic products in Belgium fell by 2003 percent to EUR 2001 million in 2002 after two strong years in 15 and 221. Overall, organic fresh products have a 1,9 percent share of the entire food market. Between July 2002 and June 2003, this proportion was still 2,1 percent.

The main reason for this is the more restrained consumption of organic meat products and organic poultry. Organic meat has been sold well in recent years due to various food scandals. This effect is now weakening. In contrast, the fruit and vegetables product group continues to grow.

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First holistic concept for cross-industry exchange

Bakers, confectioners, butchers, caterers and ice cream parlors are focusing on new sales areas with an innovative trade fair concept - "DailyFood Business" creates synergies through new target groups

There is movement in the market for trade fairs for the bakery and butcher trade. With the new trade fair "DailyFood-Business - trade fair for bakers, confectioners, butchers, caterers and ice cream cafés", Deutsche Messe AG, Hanover, is offering a trade fair concept for the first time from 2005 that takes up the significant market changes for the bakery and butcher trade and new ones offers solutions. The "DailyFood-Business 2005" takes place from April 17th to 19th at the exhibition center in Essen.

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More knowledge about meat

Trust requires knowledge. This also applies when shopping for groceries. Consumers have therefore recently received important information on the subject of beef via a free information hotline. By calling 0800-2001060 you can find out everything you need to know about keeping, feeding, slaughtering and cutting up cattle, about European legislation, national laws and ordinances, and about marking of origin and labelling. There is also interesting information about the nutritional significance and the many ways in which beef can be prepared. Those who prefer to have the information in black and white can also find everything on the CMA website at http://www.cma.de/wissen_76654.php or on the EU's online site at http://europa.eu.int/beef_info read. For example, the feeding of animals and the quality of feed are regulated by strict laws in the EU. In Germany, the Feed Act determines which requirements the feed must meet in terms of their ingredients and which products are allowed to come onto the market at all. These legal requirements guarantee that the animals are supplied with essential nutrients to meet their needs and thus ensure their health and the production of high-quality animal food.

The consumer also learns that beef is an important supplier of high-quality protein, of essential vitamins and minerals and is therefore a valuable food item in a balanced diet. For example, beef contains high-quality iron, which the human body can utilize much better than plant-based iron. It is also an important source of this trace element due to its high zinc content and good usability.

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Positive feedback promises success across the board

The nationwide summer campaign for food retailers in the New Zealand deer meat industry runs until the end of August 2004. The campaigns planned over a period of three months are developing extremely positively for organizers and participants: unusually high meat sales, interested and enthusiastic end consumers and an unexpectedly high number of participants in the internet competition.

The starting signal for the summer campaign was an attention-grabbing advertising campaign in food, women's and lifestyle magazines. The response, especially to the competition on the Internet, has been overwhelming so far. More than 130.000 registrations for the draw in early September were counted. You can win two trips to New Zealand, exclusive Bocuse knives and practical barbecue sets. The tasting stand with a mobile kitchen is a great success: The tour with the corresponding product presentation at the POS, which has taken place in various stores so far, is fully booked until the end of August. The summer placement of venison from New Zealand, which is rather unusual for food retailers, was worth it in the truest sense of the word. The outstanding success of offering the product as a summer specialty ended with a total sell-out of the goods for most markets.

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Results of the GfK consumer climate study in July 2004

The mood among German consumers is still not good. After the positive development in June, all indicators that record consumer sentiment in Germany went down again in July. This also affected the consumer climate indicator, for which GfK forecast a value of 3,4 points in August.

In the previous month, all indicators of consumer sentiment, ie economic and income expectations as well as consumers' propensity to make larger purchases, had risen significantly. However, the hope that this might be the first sign of a change in mood was not confirmed in July: the growth in economic and income expectations of the previous month was more than reversed in July. The propensity to buy also went down again. Accordingly, the consumer climate for August is forecasting a significantly lower value of 3,9 points after the revised 3,4 points in July.

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A low-fat diet with lots of fruit and vegetables can increase cholesterol and lipoproteins, according to the Munich-based medical journal "Ärztliche Praxis". The journal refers to a publication by Finnish researchers in the journal "Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology" (24 [2004] pp. 498-503).

According to "Ärztliche Praxis", what has been preached for years as an effective strategy against civilization diseases has now not only proven to be ineffective, but even harmful: In a small study on women, a low-fat diet with a high proportion of fruit and vegetables caused an increase in LDL - cholesterols. This variant of cholesterol is considered potentially harmful to health, since high blood levels increase the risk of vascular calcification, reports the "Ärztliche Praxis".

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