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Australian Pork is Safe to Eat
13/5/2009
Australian Pork Limited (APL), the national representative body for Australian pork producers announced today that the general public should not be concerned with eating pork or pork products.
Australian consumers can have the utmost confidence in the wholesomeness and disease free status of Australian pork. Australian pork and processed products are safe to eat.
The global concern with so-called swine flu has been declared as not being a food borne safety issue by leading world and local health organisations.
Consumers should also realise that swine flu is a disease that does not exist in Australian pigs.
The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) and the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say "swine flu viruses are not transmitted by food". People cannot get swine flu from eating pork or pork products.
AVA president Dr Mark Lawrie says "people should have no qualms about going ahead and eating pork...swine flu is not spread through food....[and] in any case, the swine flu virus is inactivated as soon as the meat reaches 70 degrees during cooking".
Similarly, the World Health Organization (WHO) says "swine influenza has not been shown to be transmissible to people through eating properly handled and prepared pork (pig meat) or other products derived from pigs".
Senior Lecturer, Intensive Agriculture, Department of Production, Animal Health and Medicine at Murdoch University, Dr John Carr, also assures Australians that swine flu doesn't exist in Australian pigs. As all fresh pork in Australia is from Australian pig farms, Dr Carr says consumers should not avoid pig products. "There is a concern regarding the association of a name", says Dr Carr. "But there is no swine flu in Australian pork and even if you buy pork that has come in from abroad, the meat is all processed... and the processing procedure and certainly cooking would render the virus inactive.".
The AVA confirms Dr Carr's account saying, "the international swine flu outbreak is not a threat to Australian pigs and that eating pork poses no human health risk".
The World Organisation for Animal Health Director General Bernard Vallat described the virus being dubbed 'swine flu' as in fact a 'cocktail' of four different strains. "There is no proof that the virus, currently circulating among humans, really is of animal origin. There is no element to support this".
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