South Africa's biosecurity crisis: food safety vs economic fallout

Banning certain food imports can have unintended consequences on the poor and job security.
With the global nature of trade, countries can be exposed to imported biological threats, especially from food.
That is why it is disturbing to hear Agriculture Minister John Steenhuisen's comment that South Africa allowed its biosecurity to 'slide quite dramatically'.
Biosecurity is the way we prevent biological contamination or disease entering our country – and how we monitor and eradicate such issues within our borders.
Radical action, such as banning certain food imports – as was done recently with chicken imports from Brazil – can have unintended consequences.
In this case, the imports included vast amounts of what is known as mechanically deboned meat, used in the manufacture of polony, Viennas, Russians, braai wors, bangers, frozen burgers, meat pies and corned meat.
ALSO READ: Bird flu: Government lifts ban on most chicken imports from Brazil
Shortages of this affordable protein would affect poorer people and could place thousands of jobs at risk.
Obviously, the country would, in theory, be safer from contamination from imported foodstuffs – but at what cost?
Balancing safety with broader economic issues is what Steenhuisen and the department's experts have done in lifting the ban on imports from parts of Brazil not affected by avian flu.
Effective surveillance, accompanied by pragmatism, has to be our watchword when it comes to biosecurity.
NOW READ: Bird flu: worry not, it is safe to eat eggs and chicken

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Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ South Africa does not produce MDM in any meaningful quantity. For the past 12 years, Brazil has supplied about 95% of MDM used in South African meat processing, making it an essential component in affordable processed products like russians, frozen burgers, bangers, meat pies, and corned meat. 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