Surveillance programme

The Danish OTA surveillance programme has particularly focused on rye (Jprgensen et al., 1996 Jprgensen and Jacobsen, 2002). From 1986-1992, the OTA content was determined in both cultivated rye and wheat (kernels) 78% of the rye samples contained OTA, but only 40% of the wheat samples did. Lower frequency of OTA contamination was also reported by Elmholt (2003) and Czerwiecki et al. (2002b) suggesting that rye is more sensitive than wheat. 

Epidemiological data are often based on broad populations such as a community, a nationwide probability sample, registries or disease surveillance programmes (Savitz Harlow, 1991 Scialli et al., 1997). Potential toxicants are also monitored in outdoor air, food, water and soil. These measurements can be used to calculate estimated exposure of humans through contact with their contaminated environment. However, such environmental measurements are difficult to link to... 

Surveillance programmes also exist in occupational settings. In this case, it may be possible to follow reproductive histories (including menstrual cycles) or semen evaluations to monitor reproductive effects of exposure. With adequate exposure information, these could yield very useful data for risk assessment. Reproductive histories are easier and less costly to collect than semen evaluations. Semen studies also may have limited response rates, thus reducing their representativeness. It is important to reassure workers that the data they provide for such programmes remain confidential and will not affect their employment status (Samuels, 1988 Lemasters, 1993 Lindbohm, 1999). 

There has been a huge amount of analytical work on metals such as lead in food. Indeed a large part of the periodic table has been covered. Early work on metals identified that analytical quality assurance is a key tool in the surveillance of food for chemical contaminants. It also led to the development of toxicological standards which can be used to define whether or not surveillance results show there is a hazard to consumer health. Both of these types of approaches are now standard in the best surveillance programmes, whether they are on contaminants or additives in food. 

In the UK the Joint Food Science and Safety Group of the Department of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food have published the results of many analyses for chemical contaminants in food carried out under their Food Surveillance Programme. In many cases the raw data from these surveys are available for analysis. Table 2.1 lists the results of analyses for lead in some samples of cow, sheep and pig kidney obtained in Scotland and England.5 There are clear differences between species and some evidence of differences between sampling locations. What is not clear is the extent to which the variability observed is due to real and consistent differences between species and location or to normal biological variation. 

This chapter will review the way in which veterinary pharmaceutical drugs are used and the controls placed on their use. It will also explain how information from veterinary drug residues surveillance programmes coupled with knowledge of the potential risk they pose can be used to assess the hazards they may present if allowed to enter the human food chain. 

The UK national surveillance programmes for residues of veterinary drugs in meat and animal products... 

The Statutory Surveillance Programme implements European Union (EU) legislation in accordance with the provisions set out in Directive 96/23/EEC. This Directive sets out the sampling regime and the veterinary drugs that must be monitored by each EU member state. 

In other nations similar bodies exist for the surveillance of veterinary drug residues in food. Any country that is not a member of the EU, wishing to export meat or animal products into the EU, must have a residues surveillance programme that is compatable with EU legislation. 

The implementation of legislation in the UK has ensured more effective control over residues than has previously been possible. This will help to deter an isolated number of farmers who do not observe the recommended conditions of use for veterinary products and who are therefore probably responsible for the low number of residue violations recorded. Refinements in analytical methodology, to improve the speed and reliability of residue detection, will help assist the expansion of the UK veterinary drug residues surveillance programme. 

Table 10.4 Fruit and vegetable sampled in Europe in 1996 as part of member states surveillance programme (adapted from Shaw, 1999)...

Total Diet Surveys are often cheaper than full surveillance programmes. Countries with small populations and a consequent low tax revenue cannot... 

FEHD, 2003. A routine food surveillance programme. Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, HKSAR Government. 

A footnote explains that the drug surveillance programme is supported in part by 10 different drug companies, at least one of which makes an SSRI. However, Eli Lilly was not among them. 

The combined results from the surveillance programmes are reported in the joint UK regulators annual Radioactivity in Food and the Environment (RIFE) series of reports. The most recent report is RIFE 11, which provides all information for the monitoring carried out in 2005. ... 

As indicated in Table 1, at five of the locations, either Cefas or Harwell Scientifics (HS) collected the required samples and provided aliquots for both laboratories to analyse. At the remaining three locations (Cardiff, Dungeness and Heysham), both Cefas and Harwell Scientifics collected samples independently for analysis (i.e. although within the same sample frequency period, samples were not collected at the identical time nor exactly the same location). This independent sampling was undertaken to represent and assess the likely variability that is inherent from the operation of independent surveillance programmes and work carried out by different contractors. 

The Environment Agency and Food Standards Agency funded this work as part of their respective radiological surveillance programmes. The authors would also like to express their sincere thanks to our colleagues at Cefas and Harwell Scientifics for their contributions to the collection, distribution, preparation and radioanalysis of samples. 

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