Food Safety Quality Assurance Programs in the Danish Swine Production

Despite Denmark’s limited size of just 44,000 sq km, the country produced 22 million pigs, 137 million broilers and 595,000 cattle in 2001. Denmark has approximately 14,000 swine producers, 95% of whom are members of the 150-year-old nationwide producer cooperative, the Danish Bacon and Meat Council. With a human population of 5.3 million inhabitants, domestic consumption accounts for only 15% of the produced pork, whereas the remaining 85% is exported worldwide. Food safety has been a very high political priority during the last decade in Denmark and has consequently been a precondition for the swine and poultry industries to remain acceptable among the Danes. The Salmonella, Trichinella and residues programs are the three most important food safety quality assurance programs implemented in the Danish swine sector. The programs are briefly described in the present paper and their food safety values are evaluated.