PRESS RELEASE
July 20th, 1995
Healthy food from healthy stock.

Sweden is one of the few countries world-wide to have virtually eliminated undesirable bacteria such as Salmonella from its poultry products.
Now Swedish producers believe that their high standards of poultry production and animal care will help them compete in Europe while encouraging other EU countries to adopt similar successful methods of disease-free production.

From the beginning of 1995, Swedish poultry producers have to conform to even tougher health controls to ensure that their products remain of the highest standards. Any EU producer wishing to import poultry products to Sweden must also satisfy the same stringent health control measures.
Firmly behind the new, tougher measures is Svensk Fågel, the Swedish Poultry Meat Association, which represents 97 per cent of the industry. It believes that consumers should be able to feel confident that Swedish poultry meat products come from healthy animals.
Camilla Littorin, managing director of Svensk Fågel, explains the three basic principles on which Swedish poultry production is based. She says," Swedish chicken are salmonella-free, raised without antibiotics and under a very strict animal care programme."
Today's consumers are not only concerned with eating healthy food but want to know that animals are raised under humane conditions, with few additives and in a way that does not harm the environment.

Antibiotics - all too common.
Littorin points out, "Most other countries use antibiotics as a matter of course. Use of antibiotics can lead to strains of resistant bacteria, and there is an environmental impact with quantities of antibiotics leaching into ground water."
"For the past nine years our birds have been raised without antibiotics of any kind," Littorin says. In addition, she says that Swedish producers follow an industry-wide animal care programme that is tailored to raising poultry under the most suitable hygienic and humane conditions.
Swedish poultry husbandry means that chickens are allowed to move freely, have appropriate living space and always have access to water and food. On average chickens have a weight to space ratio of 20 kilo per square metre which can be compared with up to 60 kilo/sq. m in the USA and other European countries.
The environment in the hen houses is carefully controlled for temperature, humidity, water availability, as well as hygiene.
Sweden's success in combating salmonella is receiving growing international interest, particularly amongst its EU colleagues. Representatives of Svensk Fågel have visited several countries in the past year and provided advice and information on Swedish poultry methods.
In recognition of Sweden's work on Camilla Littorin has taken part in the EU commission's workshop on animal health issues including disease control and animal transportation.

(photo)

For further information please contact:
Svensk Fågel
Camilla Littorin, Managing Director
Po Box 556 33
102 14 Stockholm
Sweden
Tel: +46 8 667 17 20
Fax: +46 8 667 17 06






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INS/Svensk Fågel/ Article/Final
Elaine Williams

Headline: Poultry Care Programme Gives Disease-free Products


Increasingly consumers are demanding healthier food that comes from more 'natural' sources produced in an environmentally sound and humane way. Chicken is a very popular ingredient in the modern healthy diet as it provides an inexpensive form of low fat high protein, B vitamins and minerals.

Poultry meat, however, can be a major carrier of bacteria - mainly strains of salmonella and campylobacteria - that can cause illness in humans. Today it is believed that salmonella strains of bacteria are the major cause of food poisoning world-wide. Many producers world-wide have sought to deal with the problem with the greater use of antibiotics but with little success.

Sweden, by contrast, stands out as one of the few countries that has virtually eliminated bacteria from its poultry products and has kept other kinds of infection, such as camplyobacteria, very low.

Swedish poultry meat producers believe that their success in rearing healthy birds - thanks to tough disease protection measures - gives them a tremendous competitive edge in the European markets that are now open to them. Since the beginning of 1995, the industry has introduced even higher standards of health control which also apply to producers wishing to import poultry products into Sweden.



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Forefront of Research

Svensk Fågel, the Swedish Poultry Meat Association, is
the organisation represents 97 per cent of all table bird production in Sweden, from poultry farmers, slaughter houses to food preparation concerns. This body is at the forefront of research into better poultry production and has been the main driving force in raising standards throughout the industry.

As a result, Sweden is an acknowledged world leader in the production of salmonella-free chicken and has also achieved considerable success in reducing the incidence of campblyobacteria.

This success is even more impressive when you realise that Swedish poultry is raised without antibiotics or hormones. "For the past nine years our birds have been raised without antibiotics of any kind," says Camilla Littorin, managing director of Svensk Fågel. Many consumers in the EU are seeking to buy meat from animals raised without such additives. Littorin points out, "Most other countries use antibiotics as a matter of course. Use of antibiotics can lead to strains of resistant bacteria, and there is an environmental impact with quantities of antibiotics leaching into ground water."

Swedish birds feed mainly on wheat, grain and oats with Soya meal and fish meal providing the main protein. All the minerals and vitamins required by the chickens are derived from natural sources.

Concern for Animal Care

Increasing numbers of people are also concerned about animal welfare and wish to consume meat from producers that have high standards of animal care. Swedish poultry husbandry means that its birds are raised under very hygienic and humane conditions.



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Once the poultry is fully matured and ready for slaughter, producers follow a careful programme designed to minimise distress and pain to the birds while maintaining high standards of hygiene. Care and handling of livestock has been based on two stringent demands that :

-livestock have the right to be handled in a way that does not cause suffering and,

-consumers have the right to demand that animals are handled in an ethically correct manner.

Poultry farmers and slaughter houses work very closely together in this respect as does the rest of the industry from feed manufacturers upwards to ensure consistent standards throughout the poultry industry.

Bacterial Control is vital

Good hygiene is a key factor in the control of bacteria which can cause a variety of illnesses from mild diarrhoea to severe sepsis and even death.

Sweden's salmonella control programme covers all stages of bird production, including monitoring and control of feed. Controls of this bacteria started in 1961 and current measures are aimed at ensuring that animal products delivered for human consumption are free from salmonella.

In January 1995, Sweden introduced even stricter controls on preventing the spread of infection and to reduce further the likelihood of disease striking Swedish flocks. In particular, the Swedish industry is working towards the elimination of campylobacteria in their birds too.




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Sweden's success in combating salmonella and other bacteria has received growing international interest, particularly amongst its EU colleagues. Representatives of Svensk Fågel have visited several countries and provided advice and information on its poultry methods.

In recognition of Sweden's work in this respect, Camilla Littorin of Svensk Fågel has also participated in the EU Commission's workshop on animal health issues including disease control and animal tranportation. These are currently major issues of concern both politically and practically throughout the European Union.

Facts Box

How Chickens are Raised in Modern Units

Chickens are allowed to move freely, have appropriate living space and always have access to water and food. On average chickens have a weight to space ratio of 20 kilo per square metre which can be compared with up to 60 kilo/sq. m in the USA and other European countries.

In Sweden today there are around 160 chicken and 17 turkey producers producing around 55 million birds for the table annually. Most are family concerns - 70 percent of farms are less than 3,000 sq.m in size - and based in the milder climate of southern Sweden. Even here poultry is raised in heated barns where the environment is controlled to suit the birds, for example chickens prefer a high humidity of between 50 and 70 per cent. Any farm with more than 2,000 birds, for example must have an alarm system which warns of failures of water, electricity systems or excessively high or low temperatures in the hen house. The regulations also ensure that hen houses are kept clean and regularly checked.


Photo caption

Most poultry units are family concerns based in the milder climate of southern Sweden.