Pork imports should be Food Standards Agency priority, says geneticist

UK - Food safety, especially regarding meat, should be a priority for Dame Deirdre Hutton when she takes over from Sir John Krebs as chair of the Food Standards Agency in July, according to Dr Grant Walling, head of research and genetics with JSR Genetics.

In particular, he highlights the anomalies relating to the import of pork into Britain. “Imported pork may pose the greatest risk to public confidence as it does not always meet the high standards set in the UK,” he said.

Dr Grant Walling, head of research and genetics at JSR Genetics

If scientific evidence suggests certain practices were safer in the UK, he questioned why we continued to import pork from other countries that did not employ such practices. For example, the ban on antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) was set up because of ‘concerns that certain bacteria may be developing multiple resistance to antibiotics and this could limit the options available for the treatment of disease in humans and animals’.

“Are checks to be placed on pigmeat entering the EU after the ban to ensure that it complies with these concerns?” he questioned.

Dr Walling said that under Sir John Krebs, food safety had been taken out of politicians’ hands and decisions were based on scientific fact, without giving in to extremists, and this sound approach needed to continue.

“With problems such as avian influenza and Britain accepting an ever-increasing amount of imported meat from countries with an inferior status, the importance of food safety should remain of prime concern to all British consumers.”

Source: JSR Genetics - 24th June 2005

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