Saying No to Contaminated Livestock Products

According to data released by the Department of Livestock Production at a recent conference, the use of prohibited substances in animal husbandry is at an alarming rate. The department admitted that, while the use of banned substances in livestock husbandry was under control after a strong inspection movement in the first quarter of 2012, in 2015, the use of forbidden substances in livestock husbandry broke out again on a large scale and with a complex nature. Banned substances were found in use in many localities and by various types of violators. In 2012, banned substances were only detected in use by livestock farming households. In 2015, violations were discovered in animal feeds, veterinary medicines and large farms. In the southern region, in the first 10 months of 2015, Dong Nai province found 109 out of 654 pig urine samples positive for Salbutamol (accounting for 16.7 per cent of samples), Ho Chi Minh City found 95 out of 516 samples positive (18.4 per cent), Dak Nong province found three out of 54 samples positive (5.6 per cent), Tay Ninh province found five out of nine samples positive (55.5 per cent), Tien Giang province found 35 out of 525 samples positive (6.7 per cent) and Vinh Long province found six out of 68 samples positive (8.8 per cent). The concentration of Salbutamol in urine samples is very high, mostly above 200 ppb, with some samples reaching 665ppb.

 

After drastic actions against prohibited substances in livestock, we have seen remarkable progress. According to the Department of Livestock Production, in late 2015, there was a sharp drop in samples positive to banned substances. Particularly, only 1.3 per cent of animal feed samples were found positive, compared with 5.3 per cent in the first months of the year and 6.1 per cent of urine samples were tested positive, compared with 16.2 per cent earlier. In the first quarter of 2016, urine samples tested positive in Dong Nai were two out of 128 (1.56 per cent) while the rate in Ho Chi Minh City was 1.5 per cent in March. No positive samples were found in northern and central provinces.

 

In addition to intensifying inspections and handling violations concerning banned substances used in livestock farming, the agricultural sector is encouraging and popularising biosecurity livestock models and informing consumers of qualified food businesses. Self-contained production model, from farm to fork, is encouraged to ensure the supply of quality and safe meat, egg and milk for users.

 

According to the Department of Livestock Production, this model is present in all localities, e.g. the pork, poultry meat and egg chains operated by Dabaco, Visan, Masan, Ba Huan, Aufeed, Thai Duong, Emivest and Japhacomfeed; and milk chains operated by TH Milk, Moc Chau, Vinamilk and Dutch Lady. Notably, over 100 large farms and about 9,037 smallholding farms are certified VietGAP (good practices in livestock farming). These are big numbers in relation to other agricultural sectors. The list of certified units is published on the website of the Department of Livestock Production.

 

To remove tainted livestock products from meals, it is necessary to take firm actions on any violations, particularly the supply source of prohibited substances.