On-farm pork food safety: Attitudes and beliefs of swine practitioners

Objective: To assess US swine veterinarians' knowledge of and attitudes toward on-farm food-safety verification and auditing, veterinary training methods, and the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) approach. Method: Attendees at the 1999 American Association of Swine Practitioners (AASP) annual meeting were asked to complete a written survey. Results: Swine practitioners from 23 states, who had offices or practices in the USA, provided 243 usable surveys. Respondents found private practitioners or herd veterinarians most acceptable as auditors of on-farm food-safety practices. Most methods of certification for the auditor were acceptable. The AASP was the preferred group to evaluate and certify veterinarians as auditors. Respondents believed that the HACCP approach to food safety was effective for residue avoidance, but were mixed in their opinion about its effectiveness in preventing microbial contamination. Implications: Veterinarians are interested in expanding the on-farm services they provide in food safety, and are willing to take further training to provide on-farm auditing and verification. Veterinarians would prefer AASP to take leadership in on-farm food-safety evaluation and certification of veterinarians.