Research

Costs of two alternative Salmonella control policies in Finnish broiler production

Susanna Kangas¹ , Tapani Lyytikäinen² , Jukka Peltola³ , Jukka Ranta² and Riitta Maijala^1,4

¹  Department of Food and Environmental Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, PO Box 66, Agnes Sjöberginkatu 2, FI-00014, University of Helsinki, Finland

²  Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira, Risk Assessment Unit, Mustialankatu 3, FI-00790 Helsinki, Finland

³  MTT Economic Research, Agrifood Research Finland, Luutnantintie 13, FI-00410 Helsinki, Finland

⁴  European Food Safety Authority, Largo N. Palli 5/a, I-43100 Parma, Italy

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Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica 2007, 49:35doi:10.1186/1751-0147-49-35

Published:	4 December 2007

Abstract

Background

Costs and benefits of two Salmonella control policies for broiler production were described and compared. The control options were the Zoonosis Directive 92/117/EC and the more intense strategy, the Finnish Salmonella Control Programme (FSCP).

Methods

The comparison included the Salmonella control costs in primary and secondary production and the direct and indirect losses due to Salmonella infections in humans in 2000.

Results

The total annual costs of the FSCP were calculated to be 990 400 EUR (0.02 €/kg broiler meat). The average control costs in the broiler production chain were seven times higher with the FSCP than with the Zoonosis Directive alone. However, the public health costs were 33 times higher with the Zoonosis Directive alone. The value of one prevented loss of life per year exceeded the annual control costs of the FSCP.

Conclusion

Due to significant savings in public health costs compared to costs of FSCP, the FSCP was found to be economically feasible.