Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in Sweden
Remote meat inspection is currently not permitted under the European Union food control legislation. However, the environmental impact of travelling to and from abattoirs and increasing shortages of qualified veterinary staff make remote controls a potential future scenario. This paper reports the r...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-01-01
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| Series: | Journal of Food Protection |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X23068801 |
| _version_ | 1797350968864538624 |
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| author | Agnieszka D. Hunka Emanuela Vanacore Ingrid Medin Ermela Gjona Arja Helena Kautto |
| author_facet | Agnieszka D. Hunka Emanuela Vanacore Ingrid Medin Ermela Gjona Arja Helena Kautto |
| author_sort | Agnieszka D. Hunka |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Remote meat inspection is currently not permitted under the European Union food control legislation. However, the environmental impact of travelling to and from abattoirs and increasing shortages of qualified veterinary staff make remote controls a potential future scenario. This paper reports the results of a qualitative study conducted with a sample of nineteen official veterinarians and food business operators in Sweden. We investigated attitudes, perceived risks, and prerequisites for remote meat controls in semi-structured interviews.Results indicate both positive attitudes towards remote meat inspection, and concerns related to technical challenges, reliability and security of data transfer, and possibilities of manipulation of the remote system. Respondents also noted both negative effects, such as physical hurdles for good control, and positive impacts on animal welfare, such as shortened waiting times for slaughter. Considering the current regulatory framework, only 21% of the respondents have had any prior experience with (pilot) remote meat inspections and the additional 11% carried out remote inspections of Food Chain Information documents. Nevertheless, all participants, including the majority without any prior experience in remote inspections, assumed that remote inspections would be done via video streaming. The optimal setting for a remote meat inspection, according to our respondents, seems to be a combination of cameras at fixed locations with body cameras worn by assisting abattoir personnel. Overall, remote meat inspections are possible to introduce but not without significant legal and technical adaptations as well as definition of the conditions for this type of control flexibility. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:53:45Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d7c985378495456598edde6506504ad0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0362-028X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-08T12:53:45Z |
| publishDate | 2024-01-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Food Protection |
| spelling | doaj.art-d7c985378495456598edde6506504ad02024-01-20T04:44:15ZengElsevierJournal of Food Protection0362-028X2024-01-01871100196Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in SwedenAgnieszka D. Hunka0Emanuela Vanacore1Ingrid Medin2Ermela Gjona3Arja Helena Kautto4RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sven Hultins plats 5, 41258 Gothenburg, Sweden; Corresponding author.RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sven Hultins plats 5, 41258 Gothenburg, SwedenControl Unit Southern Sweden, Control Department, Swedish Food Agency, Dag Hammarsköldsväg 56 C, 752 37 Uppsala, SwedenRISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sven Hultins plats 5, 41258 Gothenburg, SwedenControl Unit Southern Sweden, Control Department, Swedish Food Agency, Dag Hammarsköldsväg 56 C, 752 37 Uppsala, Sweden; Department of Biomedicine and Veterinary Public Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Ultuna, Ulls väg, Ultuna, 750 09 Uppsala, SwedenRemote meat inspection is currently not permitted under the European Union food control legislation. However, the environmental impact of travelling to and from abattoirs and increasing shortages of qualified veterinary staff make remote controls a potential future scenario. This paper reports the results of a qualitative study conducted with a sample of nineteen official veterinarians and food business operators in Sweden. We investigated attitudes, perceived risks, and prerequisites for remote meat controls in semi-structured interviews.Results indicate both positive attitudes towards remote meat inspection, and concerns related to technical challenges, reliability and security of data transfer, and possibilities of manipulation of the remote system. Respondents also noted both negative effects, such as physical hurdles for good control, and positive impacts on animal welfare, such as shortened waiting times for slaughter. Considering the current regulatory framework, only 21% of the respondents have had any prior experience with (pilot) remote meat inspections and the additional 11% carried out remote inspections of Food Chain Information documents. Nevertheless, all participants, including the majority without any prior experience in remote inspections, assumed that remote inspections would be done via video streaming. The optimal setting for a remote meat inspection, according to our respondents, seems to be a combination of cameras at fixed locations with body cameras worn by assisting abattoir personnel. Overall, remote meat inspections are possible to introduce but not without significant legal and technical adaptations as well as definition of the conditions for this type of control flexibility.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X23068801Ante-mortemAttitudesFood controlPost-mortemRemote audit |
| spellingShingle | Agnieszka D. Hunka Emanuela Vanacore Ingrid Medin Ermela Gjona Arja Helena Kautto Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in Sweden Journal of Food Protection Ante-mortem Attitudes Food control Post-mortem Remote audit |
| title | Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in Sweden |
| title_full | Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in Sweden |
| title_fullStr | Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in Sweden |
| title_full_unstemmed | Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in Sweden |
| title_short | Official Control in Slaughter and Game Handling: Expectations and Prerequisites for Implementation of Remote Meat Inspection in Sweden |
| title_sort | official control in slaughter and game handling expectations and prerequisites for implementation of remote meat inspection in sweden |
| topic | Ante-mortem Attitudes Food control Post-mortem Remote audit |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0362028X23068801 |
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