Greece's system for controlling salmonella in food products has achieved good results, but it has weak points, according to a report by the EU's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) published on 30 January.
The report evaluates the actions taken by Greece in order to control salmonella, in particular the implementation of the salmonella national control programmes in poultry populations (breeders, laying hens, broilers and turkeys).
“Greece has achieved good results” with the implementation of salmonella national control programmes, “with only breeding flocks exceeding the EU prevalence target”, according to the experts. They note that Greece has one of the lowest notification rates of human cases of salmonella among the EU member states.
Salmonella national control programmes in Greece are in line with EU requirements. According to the FVO, “there are, however, several weak points in the implementation of the programme which could put the validity of the results into question”. Food business operators sample with lower frequency than required “without effective action from the competent authority”. This “renders the operator contribution to salmonella national control programs practically ineffective”. And finally, official controls did not detect some food business operator con-compliance. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)