[Cholera pandemic hits South America. Consequences for The Netherlands as import country of food and animal food].

The cholera-pandemic raging in South-America calls for measures of health protection with respect to citizens of countries importing food or feed components from the areas where the disease has struck. Instead of ruggedly barring importation a more humanitarian policy is recommended, relying on assistance with the introduction of and adherence to rigorous measures of longitudinally integrated microbiological safety assurance, to be monitored in cooperation with importing countries. Examples of how canned foods of neutral pH, fishery products, vegetables, fruits and fishmeal should be processed-for-safety for this purpose are presented.