A food chain mobilized for action

Requirements from field to fork: a mobilized food chain

A specific characteristic of France within the EU is that its dairy industry is organized in a single institutional chain. By bringing together producers and processors, the interprofessional group allows for close contact among the various players. This national organization is duplicated in each of the 22 French administrative regions.

This collaboration between dairy farmers and industry aims to ensure high quality milk and dairy products. It relies, for example, on closely coordinated management of interprofessional laboratories, and on joint financing of research. It also contributes to the strong development of the quality policy in France, in particular in the form of quality labels.

The interprofessional dairy laboratories – cofinanced by producers and processors – carry out each year more than 26 million analyses of cow's milk for quality payments. To these must be added 60 million analyses carried out by dairy inspection organizations, which advise dairy farmers in their quest for optimization of milk production, both in terms of yield and of quality. Thus an average of 207 analyses are carried out yearly for each farm.

At the farm: collecting milk

The quality of milk depends on the conditions of farming and production. Milk producers respect European regulations, which are based on:

• the health of herds
• the hygiene of the milking
• the quality of the milk
• the temperature at which the milk is stored
• the cleanliness of the farm, the equipment, and the staff

In the field, veterinarians and farmers monitor herds. The bovine health network set up by the French Ministry of Agriculture and Farming through the local Directions Départementales des Services Vétérinaires monitors the health of the herd. Sick animals are isolated from the herd, and their milk is never collected. All milk comes from healthy herds.

In addition to regulation, most milk producers apply a charter of best practices with very strict requirements.

 

The national dairy (FNPL) and beef (FNB) producer federations have set up a charter for good farming and breeding practices, which go beyond the regulatory obligations. Farmers who follow this charter are committed to respect a certain number of rules concerning the monitoring of the health status of the herds, of cleanliness of the farm and housing, of hygiene of milking, and in some case, the quality of feed.

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To be able to market their products, all dairy farms must also have an authorization number and may be inspected at any time by the local veterinary services (Directions des Services vétérinaires) as well as the consumer protection division (Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes).

 

The local government veterinary services (Directions Départementales des Services Vétérinaires) are in charge of inspecting farms, the agro-business industries using animal products, food service outlets, and retailers (Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries).

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The consumer affairs services (Direction Générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des Fraudes) protect consumer rights and safety: competition and pricing, respect for standards, quality and safety of products and services, advertising, labeling, retail hygiene (Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Industry).

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In France, payment for milk according to its bacteriological quality and its composition (fat and protein content) has been an established practice for more than 30 years (since 1969). To analyze the quality of the milk, a sample is taken during collection. Any variance from standards leads to a financial penalty for the producer. If it exceeds quality standards, the producer receives a financial bonus, which is the case for 96% of milk collected, all of which benefits the food security of consumers.

In general, the dairy processors have close relations with the producers whose milk they collect. To help them manage their farms, they make available their own technicians.

In processing plants:

The firms analyze the milk when it arrives at the plant to ensure that the raw material they receive corresponds to minimum standards for composition, processing safety, etc.

The legislation also defines the conditions for the manufacture, packaging, and storage of products. Hygiene requirements are regulated: choice of raw materials, premises, and equipment used to avoid any contamination.

Firms do extensive testing on their own, based on the principles of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). Certain firms in the dairy industry, big and small, have also taken on voluntary processes for quality certification (ISO 9001, ISO 9002, etc.).

 

Self regulation:

Professionals in charge of the sanitary quality of the products subject themselves to self-regulation controls, carried out both internally and by independent outside organizations

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To give an example, during its production a batch of cheese may undergo an average number of tests approaching one hundred (all analyses from the raw material to the finished product).

Each plant systematically applies a procedure of releasing batches: products leave the plant only after receiving favorable lab results. The product traceability methods implemented by the plants both for raw materials and components constitute a real guarantee: response to expectations in terms of nutritional, health and taste quality, capacity to promptly recover the product in case of risks. Beyond these documents for good practice, strict specifications are established with milk producers.

Risks have always existed, but the improvement of scientific knowledge and monitoring procedures allows us today to better detect and prepare for them. The prevention of risks, whether microbiological, chemical or physical, is ensured by mastery of the raw materials and the production process throughout the food chain.

In the case of discovery of a risk for human health, the firm must alter the veterinary services. They make a first analysis of the situation and warn, if necessary, the appropriate government administrations: the food, consumer and health departments (DGAL, DGCCRF , DGS).

Regulation, inspections and self-testing work together to control risks. For example, the incidence of listeria in France is under three cases per million inhabitants.

All the way to marketing:

Respect for the cold chain during shipping and in retail outlets prevents heat from encouraging the development of the bacteria naturally present in food. The consumer must also be vigilant as to the conservation and manipulation of products (hygiene of hands, utensils, general cleanliness, refrigerator temperature, etc.).

If a risk is detected in an exported product, French authorities quickly warn the officials of the receiving country. The French agricultural and veterinary attachés on duty in the various embassies ensure the liaison with national health authorities.

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