UNLIKE other bans ordered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the recall of canned processed pork meat products from groceries is not because these pose a direct human threat.
Past FDA-ordered bans, like those on cosmetic products, were meant to protect the individual’s skin or health. This ban on processed pork meat products is directed at protecting the local hog industry by preventing the spread of the African swine fever (ASF).
According to the World Organization for Animal Health, ASF is a highly contagious hemorrhagic disease of pigs, warthogs, European wild boar and American wild pigs. The ASF-causing virus triggers loss of appetite and hemorrhages, leading to death.
The ASF does not cause disease in humans. No human fatality has been reported from consuming meat from an infected pig. What experts feared was that the spread of ASF will kill the hog industry and affect food security since pork accounts for most of the Filipino’s meat consumption.
The ASF is harmless for humans but spreads rapidly among domestic pigs and wild boars through direct contact or exposure to contaminated feed and water, an article titled “African swine fever keeps spreading in Asia, threatening food security” on www.sciencemag.org said. Farm workers can unwittingly carry the virus on shoes, clothing, vehicles, and machinery. The virus can survive in fresh and processed pork products, the report said. Some countries have resorted to culling or the killing of pigs. In China, more than one million pigs were culled to stop ASF.
One concern is on the practice of swill feeding done by small or backyard pig raisers. Swill feeding refers to feeding pigs with “lamaw” or food wastes or scraps. The virus can persist even in kitchen and table wastes.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said that, of the 68 ASF outbreaks in China, 34 percent were caused by swill feeding, 46 percent by contaminated vehicles and workers and 19 percent by the transport of live pigs and products.
When people get to eat infected meat product, the food scraps or swill might reach hog farms and cause the virus to be passed on to pigs. That is the reason for the FDA ban and the subsequent pullout of the canned products.
With lack of information as to why the canned goods were recalled, the hog industry might be killed not by the culling of pigs but by hysteria. Consumers might end up not buying even the locally-produced good pork meat.
Lack of information is what will kill the local hog industry even before there is an ASF case in the country.
The FAO (www.fao.org) recommendation does not include pullout of canned goods from groceries. It recommended, among others, animal disease containment, frequent disinfection of farms and transport vehicles, a stop to swill feeding and “communication to the public to avoid rumors leading to food safety perceptions and consumption disruption.”
Government should talk more about this pig disease and what it means to hog raisers and consumers.