Pork Supply Chain Research Articles

Development of cooperative and integration relations in pig production industry

The article deals with the study of the issue of cooperative and integration relations developmentin pig production industry. It was proved that integration, as well as cooperation, reflect basically the same process - production and economic cooperation of economic entities engaged in different types of production and economic activities. However, they are parts of the technological process aimed to improve the efficiency of final production or worksperformance and servicesprovision. It was found out that setting the conditions for effective development of pig farming in domestic agricultural enterprises requires strengthening the development of integration and cooperation on the basis of long-term partnerships for small, medium and large agricultural enterprises - pig products manufacturers. It is obvious that small farms with a pig population of up to 50 heads must intensify the process of cooperatives establishmentand cooperativesfunctioning improvement in order to increase the efficiency of pig production and ensure product competitiveness, especially in the domestic market. These farms need to be involved in competitive pork supply chains based on the organization of slaughterhouses, transportation process, products preparation for sale, use of local brands, pork processing based on regional traditions, organization of modern forms of wholesale and retail trade. The analysis of tendencies and features of development of cooperation in agriculture based on surveys involving heads and leading experts of the pig meat production as well as generalizations of researchresults of the Ukrainian scientists give the grounds to recommend certain models of production cooperation in pig breeding. These include establishing agricultural production cooperatives (APC) on the basis of highly marketable personal peasant farmsrising three pigs and more and owning over 1 hectare of landarea within one settlement. Cooperation can be used to unite land plots owned by APCs into a single array for the purpose of their mechanized cultivation and growing agricultural crops for pig feed. It also providesestablishing highly concentrated agricultural production cooperatives on the basis of unprofitable farms of the corporate sector of other organizational and legal forms of management with a clear division of specialized structural units operating on the basis of internal settlement. Thus, the development of integration processes has become of strategic importance, primarilydue to the need to stabilize the production process of pig products in agricultural enterprises, to restore broken industrial and economic relationships, parity of all industries and economic entitiesinterests. Pig producers are participants in integration processes and they aim to reduce the productionassociated risk, its dependence on climatic conditions, the spontaneity of the pig and feed productsmarket, the need to increase the productioncompetitiveness. Processing companies also seek to focus on obtaining stable incomes, which requires сreating a reliable raw material base and beingthe marketsparticipants. It was proved that incorporation of a large number of structural units with commodity relationsis the common feature of agricultural production cooperatives and vertically integrated structures. However, the difference between these organizational and legal formsis worth pointing noting - structural units of agricultural holdings are mostly legal entities while agricultural cooperatives do not have such a status. However, both of the above-mentioned organizational and legal forms of settlement use the cost component, i.e.transfer prices, which are similar to domestic onesin their economic nature. Therefore, the proposed approaches to the introduction of transfer pricing can be used both in agricultural production cooperatives and in vertically integrated structures. Key words: integration, cooperation, agricultural cooperatives, agroholdings, pig breeding, production, sales.

Environmental impact and adaptation study of pig farming relocation in China

Under the guidance of agri-food and water resources policies, some pig farms in China have gradually shifted their production from the Constrained Zone with a dense population and sensitive environment to the Potential Zone with richer feed resources and large environmental capacity. To evaluate whether the relocation is consistent with sustainable consumption and production, the study took the Key Zone with large pig production and supply as comparison object, constructed a life cycle assessment (LCA) model of pig production in the Constrained, Key, and Potential zones. The environmental impacts caused by the production of 1 ton of pork in these zones were 24.67 PE, 20.11 PE, and 20.44 PE, respectively, indicating that raising pigs in the Key and Potential zones is more environment-friendly than that in the Constrained Zone. Therefore, the relocation of pig farms from the Constrained Zone to the Potential Zone was found to be suitable for protecting water resources and environmental quality. Additionally, the Key Zone can maintain and even increase the existing breeding scale without transferring farms to the Potential Zone. LCA results showed that pork production has significant impacts on cancer risk, freshwater ecotoxicity, terrestrial eutrophication, and terrestrial acidification. Additionally, a majority of the environmental impacts result from crop and pig production, which are key processes in improving the pork supply chain. The soybean import ratio and feed conversion ratio are important indicators for reducing environmental impacts. Statement of noveltyTo evaluate whether pig farm relocation in China is consistent with sustainable consumption and production, a life cycle assessment (LCA) model of pig production in the Constrained, Key, and Potential zones was conducted. According to the results, relocating farms from the Constrained Zone to the Key and Potential zones was more environment-friendly. The Key Zone can maintain and even increase the existing breeding scale without transferring the farms to the Potential Zone. LCA results showed that the majority of the environmental impacts result from crop and pig production. Thus, further guidance and education can be provided to farmers in the Potential and Key zones. In addition, sensitivity analysis indicated that large-scale farms should reduce the feed conversion ratio to reduce environmental impacts.

A life cycle sustainability assessment of organic and conventional pork supply chains in Sweden

Most existing life cycle assessment studies that have compared the sustainability of organic and conventional pork supply chains are environmental assessments. The economic and social sustainability dimensions of pork supply chains are currently under-researched. The study reported here was designed to assess the environmental, economic and social sustainability of conventional and organic pork in Sweden. Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment was undertaken using 20 indicators expressed per unit product (1000 kg pork fork weight) and per unit area (1000 ha of farmland) for the four main subsystems in pork supply chains: (1) farm and feed production, (2) slaughter, (3) wholesaling and retailing, and (4) consumption. The organic pork supply chain out-performed the conventional chain in 11 of the 20 indicators expressed per unit product and 18 of the 20 indicators expressed per unit area. It was therefore the more sustainable of the two chains in nearly all the indicators expressed per unit area. However, the organic supply chain was less sustainable in some of the indicators expressed per unit product because, more feed per kg of pork was required in organic pork production. Pig welfare improvement leads to higher production costs and environmental impacts. Assessment of all three sustainability dimensions – environmental, economic and social – helps to identify trade-offs between these three pillars of sustainability. However, the selection of indicators influences results, and obtaining environmental, economic and social data simultaneously is challenging.

The Canadian pork industry and COVID‐19: A year of resilience

While COVID‐19 had the potential to be extremely disruptive to the Canadian pork supply chain, the sector showed resiliency by adjusting to market changes to ensure industry continuation. Unlike other non‐agricultural firms that were mandated to close at times, the pork sector was deemed an essential service and allowed to continue operating throughout the pandemic. Evidence of this resiliency is seen in three main ways. First, market access to the United States was maintained for both live pigs and pork exports. Second, Canada not only maintained market share in global pork exports, but it also actually increased shipments because of strong demand from China caused by African swine fever. Third, the challenges of processing plant closures and labour shortages were overcome in a variety of ways including increasing interprovincial shipments and increasing live pig exports to the United States. Pork consumption on a per capita basis continued the historical downward trend, and it is expected that consumers will return to their normal consumption patterns (e.g., dining at restaurants) despite job losses. At the meat processing level, it is anticipated that there will be an acceleration in the process to automate.

Towards a resilient food supply chain in the context of food safety

Global food supply chains have been constantly challenged by various food safety incidents or crisis. Traditional approaches on enhancing robustness of the food supply chain are not sufficient to ensure a safe food supply to the society, while building resilience as a more comprehensive approach has shown to be a good alternative option. With a resilience thinking, the food supply chain is not targeting to achieve a state of zero food safety risks, but rather to pursue the capacity to adapt and manage food safety shocks. A resilient food supply chain can still be vulnerable under the constant pressure of food safety hazards and the changing food chain environment, but has the capacity to adapt to and recover from the shocks. This study aimed to1) provide a clear definition for resilient food supply chains in the context of food safety; 2) provide a procedure to assess food safety resilience; 3) specify how a resilient food supply chain can be quantified and improved by providing a numerical example in a case study. Three dimensions of resilience factors, being time, degree of impacts caused by the food safety shocks, and degree of recovery, are suggested for assessing supply chain resilience. Results of a case study on Salmonella spp. in the pork supply chain show that the proposed framework and modelling allow for selecting the most effective strategies (having alternative suppliers, enhancing animal resilience as examples for the considered case) for improving the resilience of the supply chain for food safety.

Asymmetric price responses of the US pork retail prices to farm and wholesale price shocks: A nonlinear ARDL approach

The objective of this study is to assess asymmetric price transmission in magnitude and asymmetric price transmission in speed, between the farm-retail and wholesale-retail levels of the US pork supply chain. In doing so, it employs the recently developed Non-Linear Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (NARDL) model. Data utilized are monthly observations for farm, wholesale and retail prices of the US pork supply chain for the period 1990–2018. The empirical findings indicate the presence of asymmetry in magnitude for the wholesale-retail pair and the presence of both asymmetry in speed and asymmetry in magnitude for the farm-retail pair. In the long-run, positive shocks in the farm prices and in the wholesale prices are transmitted to the retail level with greater intensity as compared to negative ones.

Effects of 'The Vicious Worm' educational software on Taenia solium knowledge among key pork supply chain workers in Zambia.

The neglected zoonotic cestode Taenia solium is endemic in many low- and middle-income countries, including Zambia. The parasite infects humans and pigs, inflicting high socioeconomic and disease burdens in endemic areas. Health education is regarded as an important component in T. solium control and previous studies indicate that 'The Vicious Worm' may be an effective T. solium health education tool for Tanzanian medical and agricultural professionals and Zambian primary school students. This study aimed to assess the effects of health education using 'The Vicious Worm' among Zambian pork supply chain workers, because the pork supply chain greatly influences food safety and security in Zambia. Half-day educational workshops using 'The Vicious Worm' and subsequent follow-up sessions were organized in the Lusaka and Katete districts of Zambia in March and April 2019. Questionnaires were administered before, after, and three weeks after the use of 'The Vicious Worm' to assess the program's impact on knowledge uptake and short-term retention. Focus group discussions were conducted to assess the program's user experience and the participants' beliefs, attitudes, and insights. In total, 47 pork supply chain workers participated: 25 from Lusaka and 22 from Katete. Overall, knowledge about T. solium was significantly higher (p<0.001) both immediately after, and three weeks after the use of 'The Vicious Worm' compared to baseline knowledge. Focus group discussions indicated incipient attitudinal and behavioral change, as well as a positive reception of the software; with participants describing the software as simple, educative, and useful to share knowledge. The study results indicate that workshops using 'The Vicious Worm' may be effective for short-term T. solium health education among key pork supply chain workers. Follow-up studies are required to assess long-term effects, transfer of knowledge and behavioral change. However, educational interventions with 'The Vicious Worm' could be considered for integrated T. solium control programs in sub-Saharan Africa, especially if the educational content is further simplified and clarified.

Decoding the complexity of large-scale pork supply chain networks in China

PurposeWith the development of global food markets, the structural properties of supply chain networks have become key factors affecting the ability to evaluate and control infectious diseases and food contamination. The purpose of this paper is to describe and characterize the nationwide pork supply chain networks (PSCNs) in China and to demonstrate the potential of using social network analysis (SNA) methods for accessing outbreaks of diseases and contaminations.Design/methodology/approachA large-scale PSCN with 17,582 nodes and 49,554 edges is constructed, using the pork trade data collected by the National Important Products Traceability System (NIPTS) in China. A network analysis is applied to investigate the static and dynamic characteristics of the annual network and monthly networks. Then, the metric maximum spreading capacity (MSC) is proposed to quantify the spreading capacity of farms and estimate the potential maximum epidemic size. The structure of the network with the spatio-temporal pattern of the African swine fever (ASF) outbreak in China in 2018 was also analysed.FindingsThe results indicate that the out-degree distribution of farms approximately followed a power law. The pork supply market in China was active during April to July and December to January. The MSC is capable of estimating the potential maximum epidemic size of an outbreak, and the spreading of ASF was positively correlated with the effective distance from the origin city infected by ASF, rather than the geographical distance.Originality/valueEmpirical research on PSCNs in China is scarce due to the lack of comprehensive supply chain data. This study fills this gap by systematically examining the nationwide PSCN of China with large-scale reliable empirical data. The usage of MSC and effective distance can inform the implementation of risk-based control programmes for diseases and contaminations on PSCNs.

A risk assessment of pathogenic Streptococcus suis in pork supply chains and markets in Thailand

Annually, hundreds of severe foodborne cases related to Streptococcus suis (S. suis) have been reported in Southeast Asia, including Thailand. This study aimed at quantitatively evaluating the S. suis contaminations in pork and surrounding environment in pork production chains and its contributions to human illnesses. Pig-associated and environmental samples were collected from four pork supply chains in Bangkok, and cross-sectional pork samples were collected from traditional market and supermarkets in eight provinces in Thailand. All samples were enumerated for S. suis serotype 2 using standard plate count method, and bacterial species were confirmed by biochemical tests together with PCR assays and Quellung method. A quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) was performed to evaluate the S. suis serotype 2 illness risk from consuming pork in Thailand. Among four pork supply chains, the mean S. suis prevalence of pig-associated, and environmental samples were 10.9% (54/496), and 5.21% (25/480), respectively. S. suis has the highest prevalence (56.3%) (9/16), and the highest concentration (5.6 log CFU/g) in palatine tonsils. S. suis was isolated from 0.93% (11/1180) of pork samples; none of them was serotype 2. The QMRA model revealed a mean daily probability of S. suis serotype 2 illness as 2.32 × 10−8, corresponding to 502 and 31 annual cases and deaths, respectively. Additionally, the illness risk from consuming raw pork was predicted at 5.47 × 10−6. In conclusion, even the probability of S. suis illnesses from consuming pork was considerably low; however, the illnesses could lead to serious health consequences among susceptible populations.

Life-long dynamics of the swine gut microbiome and their implications in probiotics development and food safety

ABSTRACT The swine gut microbiome has received remarkable attention in recent years given that pigs serve not only as important sources for animal-derived food but also as excellent biomedical models for human health. However, despite recent advances in the understanding of the swine gut microbiome, many important biological and ecological questions are still largely unanswered. In a recent study, we characterized the life-long dynamics of the swine gut microbiome from birth to market. We showed distinct shifts in gut microbiome structure along different growth stages mainly driven by diet. Here, we summarize these discoveries and provide additional data related to the core swine gut microbiome, probiotics development in the swine industry, and foodborne pathogens in the pork supply chain.

Directions for strengthening cooperative ties in pig production

Possible directions of development of cooperation in the feld of pig breeding have been investigated in the article. The analysis of import and export of pig production in Ukraine in recent years has been carried out, which showed that today there is a need to improve integrated relations in the pig industry. The features of the cooperation process in highly developed countries (USA, Denmark, Netherlands, China, Poland) are highlighted. It is proved that the organization of a cooperative association can be accomplished by the acquisition of processing facilities at the expense of fnancial resources of the cooperative shareholders or the cooperative introduction under the terms of an equal member-shareholder of the meat processing enterprise. In order to increase the effciency of pork production in small farms with livestock up to 50 heads, it is advisable to involve them in competitive pork supply chains based on an agricultural cooperative for the production and marketing of pig production. It is substantiated that pig production cooperative can bring small agricultural enterprises together, individual agribusiness entrepreneurs, owners of private farms, processing enterprises and wholesale and retail establishments. Analysis of tendencies and features of development of cooperation in agriculture on the basis of a survey of managers and leading experts of agricultural enterprises for the production of pig meat, as well as generalizations of the results of studies of Ukrainian scientists give reason to recommend certain models of production cooperation in pig production: 1) the establishment of agricultural production cooperatives on the basis of high-value personal farms that hold three pig heads and more land use area more 1 hectare within a settlement that will integrate land in a single array for the purpose of mechanized cultivation and growing crops to feed pigs; 2) creation of highly concentrated agricultural production cooperatives on the basis of unproftable enterprises of the corporate sector of other organizational and legal forms of management with a clear separation of specialized structural units, which operate on the basis of internal economic calculation. In order to identify ways to improve the functioning of agricultural production cooperatives-producers, approaches to improving the management system are considered. Key words: pig breeding, production efciency, cooperation, typology of corporate sector farms, approaches to improving the management system, model of relations between the subjects of cooperation.

Integrity of Organic Foods and Their Suppliers: Fraud Vulnerability Across Chains.

Organic foods are frequently targeted by fraudsters. Examination of underlying factors helps to reduce fraud vulnerability and to prevent fraud. In this study, the fraud vulnerability of five actors from each of four chains were examined using the SSAFE food fraud vulnerability assessment tool: the organic banana, egg, olive oil and pork supply chains. The organic chains appeared slightly less vulnerable than conventional chains due to fewer opportunities for fraud and the more adequate controls being present. On the other hand, organic chains were associated with enhanced vulnerability resulting from cultural and behavioral drivers. Generally, actors in the organic olive oil and pork chains were more vulnerable than those from the banana and egg chains. However, high risk actors were not limited to particular chains. Across the whole group of actors in organic chains, three groups in terms of cultural/behavioral drivers were distinguished: a low vulnerability group, a group facing more external threats and a group presenting fraud vulnerability in general and in particular from within their own company. Ethical business culture and criminal history scores of businesses correlated significantly. This implies that the climate in a company is an important factor to consider when estimating the exposure of businesses to food fraud.

Hepatitis E Virus in Pigs from Slaughterhouses, United States, 2017-2019.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) RNA was detected in 6.3% and HEV IgG in 40% of 5,033 serum samples from market-weight pigs at 25 slaughterhouses in 10 US states. The prevalent HEV genotype was zoonotic genotype 3, group 2. Blood of HEV-viremic pigs from slaughterhouses may contaminate pork supply chains.

Price transmission analysis in pork supply chain in Serbia

As the pork supply chain was perceived through three level of chain: agricultural sector, processing and distribution sector, the main objective of this paper was the estimation of the vertical price transmission in the pork supply chain in the Republic of Serbia for period 2008-2015. The analysis of the price transmission was related on the presence of the asymmetry and was estimated with AECM model. The results indicated the presence of the negative asymmetry in the price transmission and one of the main causes of the presence of asymmetry was the abuse of the market power by processing sector, i.e. slaughtering industry.

Network analysis of swine movements in a multi-site pig production system in Iowa, USA

Pig production in the United States is based on multi-site systems in which pigs are transported between farms after the conclusion of each particular production phase. Although ground transportation is a critical component of the pork supply chain, it might constitute a potential route of infectious disease dissemination. Here, we used a time series network analysis to: (1) describe pig movement flow in a multi-site production system in Iowa, USA, (2) conduct percolation analysis to investigate network robustness to interventions for diseases with different transmissibility, and (3) assess the potential impact of each farm type on disease dissemination across the system. Movement reports from 2014–2016 were provided by Iowa Select Farms, Iowa Fall, IA. A total of 76,566 shipments across sites was analyzed, and time series network analyses with temporal resolution of 1, 3, 6, 12, and 36 months were considered. The general topological properties of networks with resolution of 1, 3, 6, and 12 months were compared with the whole period static network (36 months) and included the following features: number of nodes and edges, degree assortativity, density, average path length, diameter, clustering coefficients, giant strongly connected component, giant weakly connected component, giant in component, and giant out component. Small-world and scale-free topologies, centrality parameters, and percolation analysis were investigated for the networks with 1-month window. Networks’ robustness to interventions was assessed by using the Basic Reproduction Number (R0). Centrality parameters indicate that gilt development units (GDU), nursery, and sow farms have more central role in the pig production hierarchical structure. Therefore, they are potentially major factors of introduction and spread of diseases over the system. Wean-to-finishing and finishing sites displayed high in-degree values, indicating that they are more susceptible to be infected. Percolation analysis combined with general properties (i.e. heavy-tailed distributions and degree disassortative) suggested that networks with 1-month time resolution were highly responsive to interventions. Furthermore, the characteristics of a disease should have strong implications in the biosecurity practices across production sites. For instance, biosecurity practices should be focused on sow farms for highly contagious disease (e.g., foot and mouth disease), while it should target nursery sites in the case of a less contagious diseases (i.e. mycobacterial infections). Understanding the patterns of swine movements is crucial for the swine industry decision-making in the case of an epidemic, as well as to design cost-effective approaches to monitor, prevent, control and eradicate infectious diseases in multi-site systems.

A case of food supply chain management with AHP, DEMATEL, and TOPSIS

AbstractThe bullwhip effect leads to considerable inefficiencies along the food supply chain such as missed production schedules, poor customer service, excessive inventory, and misguided capacity plans. To tackle this problem, it is necessary, apart from other interventions, to continuously monitor the performance of food suppliers so that the demand information flow, order batching, transportation planning, and inventory management can be substantially improved. Therefore, supplier assessment has then become critical decision‐making support for identifying and addressing inefficiencies of food providers, which ends up reducing the variation of several key logistics parameters for upstream members of the food supply chain. In addition, such assessment is of multicriteria nature given the presence of several criteria from different domains and various food suppliers. With these considerations in mind, this paper proposes a hybrid approach integrating the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), decision‐making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) for evaluating the performance of pork suppliers. Thereby, the economic and operational burden caused by the bullwhip effect throughout the pork supply chain can be alleviated. AHP was first used to determine the criteria and subcriteria weights. Then DEMATEL was applied to assess the interdependence and feedback between the decision elements. Finally, TOPSIS was implemented to discriminate between high‐performance and low‐performance pork suppliers. A case study from the Colombian pork supply chain is presented to validate the proposed approach. The results of this study evidenced that the most important criterion was the “service level” and the most influencing factor was the “financial profile.” In addition, based on the supplier assessment results, improvement plans, and new negotiation, strategies were established for each supplier in order to diminish the bullwhip effect along the pork supply chain.

Estimating market power in the Chinese pork-packing industry: a structural approach

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate market power in the Chinese pork supply chain. The authors aim to explain why a steady rise in prices is observed in the sector, apart from existing evidence on incomplete/asymmetric cost pass-through and concerns of growing concentration and consolidation in the sector.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a new empirical industrial organization model for both oligopoly and oligopsony power to measure the degree of market power exerted on consumers and hog farmers simultaneously.FindingsBy examining annual panel data across provinces in China, the authors find that both oligopoly and oligopsony powers exist in the pork supply chain. In particular, the authors determine that a higher degree of market power is found to influence prices paid to hog farmers than prices paid by pork consumers. Estimates of key elasticities in the Chinese pork supply chain are also updated based on the structural model estimation and the latest data.Research limitations/implicationsDue to the lack of data at a more granular level of geography, the authors are only able to estimate market power by three major economic regions.Practical implicationsThe findings provide useful information for future policy analyses of Chinese food markets. First, the pork-packing industry should be of great concern in terms of market power and its influence on consumers’ and farmers’ welfare. It is essential to take into consideration market power in the pork supply chain before making any public policy regarding the pork market. Furthermore, following economic theory and experience from developed countries, large meat packers will eventually vertically control hog farmers given their stronger oligopsony power over the upstream. Vertical integration may be the next important issue in terms of food market competition. Finally, the results may also draw the government’s attention to investigating market competition in all major food markets.Originality/valueThe empirical evidence draws attention to the issue of food market competition in one of the largest and most important meat-packing markets in China. The authors hope to encourage further discussions on pork and hog market regulations and related public policies.

Antibiotic-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strains of swine origin: molecular typing and susceptibility to oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) essential oil and maqui (Aristotelia chilensis (Molina) Stuntz) extract.

The molecular typing and the susceptibility of Staphylococcus aureus strains of swine origin to antibiotics, oregano (Origanum vulgare L.) essential oil (EO) and Chilean blackberry maqui (Aristotelia chilensis (Molina) Stuntz) extract were determined. Twenty S. aureus strains of swine origin were subjected to molecular typing, of which six strains were selected for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. The epsilon test (Etest) was used to determine the antibiotic susceptibility. The susceptibility to natural antimicrobials (NAs): oregano EO, maqui extract, thymol (Thy) and carvacrol (Carv), was carried out using the disk diffusion method. The S. aureus strains were genetically diverse. All strains were resistant to at least one class of antibiotic, and two strains were multidrug-resistant. The minimum inhibitory concentration of oregano EO, Thy and Carv was 0·01-0·04%. Maqui extract did not show antistaphylococcal activity. Natural antimicrobials extracted from oregano have an inhibitory activity against S. aureus strains from swine origin, with no effect using maqui extract. This study provides information about the characteristics of S. aureus strains of swine origin, and about the potential use of NAs from oregano to enhance the control of antibiotic-resistant S. aureus strains in the pork supply chain.

Batch-based traceability for pork: A mobile solution with 2D barcode technology

As an animal-derived food, pork provides Chinese consumers with important nutritional value. The frequent safety incidents related to pork-made food have led the government and public advocate that a traceability system is as an effective means of controlling food quality and safety. This paper thus introduces a mobile pork quality and safety tracing system based on 2D (two-dimensional) barcode (also known as QR code) technology. First, literature search and field observations are used to evaluate the business processes in pork supply chain and key traceability information in the system. Then, a mobile solution based on 2D barcode technology for information collection, transformation, and delivery is designed. Finally, a pilot implementation in Jilin Province's Meat and Meat Products Safety Traceability and Regulatory Digitization Project is reported. The traceability system was integrated with the government supervision system to achieve the supervision and traceability of pork from source to table. Implementation results reveal that the system can realize batch-based traceability of pork, which greatly decreases traceability system cost. Additionally, the information verification mechanism between upstream and downstream players, as well as the full participation of consumers, enterprises, and the government, significantly improve the credibility of the traced information.

Salmonella Control Programme of Pig Feeds Is Financially Beneficial in Finland.

To promote public health, Finland has adopted a stringent Salmonella control policy. However, the rationale of Salmonella control in pig feeds has been debated after a European Union (EU)-wide cost–benefit analysis, which provided mixed, country-specific results on whether control measures are economically beneficial. The aim of this study was to analyze the costs and benefits of current pig feed Salmonella control in Finland compared to a reduced control scenario. In addition, this study contributes to the literature by looking at the costs across stakeholder groups. The costs of preventive and monitoring measures were assessed, and a Monte Carlo model was developed to simulate costs caused by Salmonella contaminations along the pork supply chain (including feed importation, commercial feed manufacturing, feed transportation, mobile feed mixers, pig farms, slaughterhouses) and because of human salmonellosis originating from contaminated feed. The data were collected from official records and feed sector operators by surveys and interviews. The prevalence of Salmonella was obtained from a previously conducted risk assessment study. The total costs of pig feed Salmonella control were estimated on average to be €4.2–5.4 million per year (95% of simulated years between €2.1 and €9.1 million) for the current control scenario, and €33.8–34.8 million per year (95% €2.2 to €26.0 million) for the reduced control scenario. In the reduced control scenario, the monitoring and prevention costs were decreased down to €1.1–2.1 million, and the costs of Salmonella contaminations and human salmonellosis were up by €32.7 million when compared to the current control scenario. The results suggest that the current pig feed Salmonella control policy of Finland is economically profitable. It can reduce the costs caused by feed-related Salmonella contaminations on average by €29.4 million per year and provides public health benefits. Pig feed Salmonella control can support the effectiveness of the Finnish Salmonella Control Programme. The current pig feed Salmonella control policy benefits the consumers, while a substantial part of the costs are covered by feed operators. In order to increase the acceptability of current policy, greater attention to the allocation of financial responsibilities regarding the control measures may be required.