Food-Safety Hazards in the Pork Chain in Nagaland, North East India: Implications for Human Health

Anna Sophie Fahrion, Lanu Jamir, Kenivole Richa, Sonuwara Begum, Vilatuo Rutsa, Simon Ao, Varijaksha P. Padmakumar, Ram Pratim Deka and Delia Grace
Additional contact information
Anna Sophie Fahrion: Veterinary Public Health Institute, Vetsuisse Faculty, University of Bern, Bern 3097, Switzerland
Lanu Jamir: Department of Veterinary and Animal Health, Nagaland 797001, India
Kenivole Richa: ILRI International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Sonuwara Begum: NRC National Research Institute on Mithun, Jharnapani, Nagaland 797106, India
Vilatuo Rutsa: NEPED, Kohima, Nagaland 797001, India
Simon Ao: Department of Veterinary and Animal Health, Nagaland 797001, India
Varijaksha P. Padmakumar: ILRI International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Ram Pratim Deka: ILRI International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi 00100, Kenya
Delia Grace: ILRI International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi 00100, Kenya

IJERPH, 2013, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-15

Abstract: Pork occupies an important place in the diet of the population of Nagaland, one of the North East Indian states. We carried out a pilot study along the pork meat production chain, from live animal to end consumer. The goal was to obtain information about the presence of selected food borne hazards in pork in order to assess the risk deriving from these hazards to the health of the local consumers and make recommendations for improving food safety. A secondary objective was to evaluate the utility of risk-based approaches to food safety in an informal food system. We investigated samples from pigs and pork sourced at slaughter in urban and rural environments, and at retail, to assess a selection of food-borne hazards. In addition, consumer exposure was characterized using information about hygiene and practices related to handling and preparing pork. A qualitative hazard characterization, exposure assessment and hazard characterization for three representative hazards or hazard proxies, namely Enterobacteriaceae, T. solium cysticercosis and antibiotic residues, is presented. Several important potential food-borne pathogens are reported for the first time including Listeria spp. and Brucella suis . This descriptive pilot study is the first risk-based assessment of food safety in Nagaland. We also characterise possible interventions to be addressed by policy makers, and supply data to inform future risk assessments.

Keywords: food-borne disease; pork; Nagaland; bacterial counts; Taenia solium; antibiotic residues (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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