| Many food scandals of the last years originated from feed (e.g. dioxin, BSE) and caused enormous mistrust in consumers`. Many salmonella outbreaks in humans in other countries also originated from feed. Only safe feed is the basis for the production of safe food and is therefore of immense importance for solid trust in food.
In the official feed control only a very small number of Salmonella positive feed samples is detected, in spite of an increasing prevalence of salmonella in poultry farms. The reason of false negative results in feed is mostly caused by the very small contamination rate, which inevitably leads to a reduced detection rate of salmonella. As soon as the contaminated feed is consumed by the animal the pathogenic microorganism proliferates and cumulates in the digestion tract and is spread by faeces in poultry or pig farms.
In literature the sampling of dust is mentioned as a sensitive indicator for a possible salmonella contamination but also as a parameter for the general hygiene status of the feed plant. Dust samples provide - due to the fine particles and its large surface - an excellent habitat for salmonella. Hence the detection of salmonella in dust samples is an indicator of the prevalence of salmonella in feed.
Aims and objectives of the project:
• Determination of strategic sampling points during the manufacturing process and the establishment of critical control points (CCPs) during the production process.
• Improvement of sampling systems (possible adaption of the sampling plan) due to reduction of false negative results by using dust samples as a salmonella indicator (early alert system).
• Establishment of an automatic follow up control system for feed in cases of positive results.
• Overview of the self monitoring systems used in practice in Austria. Guidelines for an improved self control system for feed manufacturers; therefore an improved hygiene status in the compound feed production and an improvement of the quality of the final feed.
• Overview of the most prevalent serotypes in the feed production in Austria; investigation if feed is THE source of contamination of salmonella in the food production in Austria
• Overview on the possible contamination rate of positive feed batches in Austria
The development of new analytical methods and formulation of descriptive models, e.g. as in the EU-project BIOTRACER, is explicitly not target/aim and objective of this study.
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