The cumulative effects of the BSE-nvCJD crises together with some much publicised outbreaks of foodborne illness (whether due to E. coli O157, Cryptosporidia or chemical contamination) have been to create a crisis of confidence in the abilities of either the food industry or the regulatory authorities to meet their obligations to ensure that eatables on offer to the public are fit for human consumption. History teaches us that loss of confidence in a certain food can be long-term; it also tells us that the factors that contribute to foodborne illnesses will be with us always. Therefore, restoration of confidence and its continued retention calls for a realistic, coherent long-term strategy that coordinates the skills and diligence of the entire public health service and, once that strategy has been formulated, the unrelenting vigilance that implementation will demand.

It will not be easy to develop and implement an effective strategy but it is essential that there are adequate controls at all points in the food chain at which microbiological or toxicological hazards can occur. Improved control can be achieved if the raw materials are free of infectious agents and toxic chemicals, cross-contamination is prevented as the product progresses along the food chain, handling is hygienic, storage is satisfactory and cooking of the final product is adequate. Here, we are not talking about crises management (as for instance, the slaughter of a large number of cows during the BSE crisis in Britain or of influenza- infected poultry in Hong Kong); rather, we are concerned with the routine, persistent, stringent monitoring at the various hazard points of the food chain. As stated more explicitly in a previous editorial, the veterinarian has an essential role to play at several stages in this process. The profession is more than willing to fulfil its obligations to the very highest standards.

As part of the current efforts to restore confidence in meat products, the food industry has begun to place great emphasis on traceability and quality control. What is the substance beneath the buzz words? We believe that those who have pushed the quality assured Irish beef concept are to be commended for establishing a mechanism through which confidence in the product could be restored on international markets. It offers the reassurances that customers require about the origin of the product, the welfare of the animal, freedom from residues or prohibited substances, hygienic methods and quality checks. However, the situation is not without anomaly. Beef that is produced outside this scheme is monitored under the guidelines of the Department of Agriculture and Food; of course, this is a guarantee that the product is fit for human consumption. However, the existence of two separate monitoring systems must appear anomalous to the public and it would logical to rectify this situation.

A step in the right direction has been the introduction by the Department of Agriculture and Food of the computerised cattle movement monitoring system (CMMS). This is similar to the system which has been in place in Northern Ireland for some time and which is reported to be very effective. Once again, we have to record that the experience of some vets on the ground indicates that there are anomalies in the operation of CMMS in the Republic. For instance, on occasions when information pertaining to the sale of cattle has not yet been processed through the computer, it is permissible to transact business through paper-based records. Now, there will be an additional interval before the computerised record is brought up-to-date by inclusion of the latest transaction. In effect, access to the potentially rapid and all-inclusive computer-based system is not geared to the immediate needs of the market place and, for some days, the pride of modern technology has to give second-best to the old practices that it was designed to replace. While this does not create significant problems for either vendor or purchaser, it does highlight the failure to establish the fully integrated system that we were promised by the current Minister and, indeed, by his predecessor.