News

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) and the TAFS forum have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to start collaborating on animal health and food safety matters.

GFSI will profit from the TAFS forum’s expertise in risk assessment and risk communication on animal health issues that are of relevance to food safety, whereas the TAFS forum gets access to a channel for implementation of its analyses. The combination of the two creates an integrated system of animal health and food safety issue management.

A national programme to eradicate Johne's Disease (Paratuberculosis) will start in Ireland next January.

The disease is said to be 'a major cause for concern for dairy processors supplying product into the infant formula market', but beef processors are also believed to be 'anxious to tackle the issue'.

In a commentary paper published this month, the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) discusses "The Direct Relationship between Animal Health and Food Safety Outcomes".

Parker et al. have published the description on an "Algorithm for Assessing the Risk to Food Safety Posed by a New Animal Disease". Their approach is strikingly similar to the one taken regularly by TAFS to assess food safety risks.

Parker, E. M., Jenson, I., Jordan, D. and Ward, M. P. (2012), Development of an Algorithm for Assessing the Risk to Food Safety Posed by a New Animal Disease. Zoonoses and Public Health, 59: 184–192. doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2011.01431.x

USDA announced the identification of the fourth case of BSE in the USA. The cow was found dead on a dairy farm in central California and tested for BSE before the carcass would be released for rendering. Initial test results were inconclusive, but retesting by USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, using immunohistochemistry and western blots confirmed atypical BSE.

Dr. Anthony A. Frank, president of Colorado State University, called for 'common ground', addressing participants of the NIAA (National Institute for Animal Agriculture) annual conference in Denver, Colorado (March 26 - 29, 2012).

The TAFS forum delivers exactly that.

Happy Birthday, TAFS forum!

The TAFS forum was founded on March 22, 2002 - 10 years ago. A reason to celebrate, maybe to be a little bit proud of what we have achieved, but most of all to say thank you. Thank you, founders of TAFS, for your vision and courage. Thank you, members, for your commitment, scientific advice, financial support, and friendship. And, last but not least, thank you all for your interest and encouragement.

We have great plans for the future. Learn more about our 'New Vision for TAFS' from our website or contact us directly.

Best wishes,

the TAFS team.

After a recent report about a 'probable variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease' case, the EUROCJD group replies in a public letter why it considers the diagnosis 'unlikely'. The group states that 'the diagnosis of vCJD cannot be regarded as correct unless there is neuropathological verification of this diagnosis'.