RISE Research Institutes of Sweden AB, Sven Hultins plats 5, 41258 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Control Unit Southern Sweden, Control Department, Swedish Food Agency, Dag Hammarsköldsväg 56 C, 752 37 Uppsala, Sweden.
J Food Prot. 2024 Jan;87(1):100196. doi: 10.1016/j.jfp.2023.100196. Epub 2023 Nov 20.
Remote meat inspection is currently not permitted under the European Union food control legislation. However, the environmental impact of travelling to and from abattoirs and increasing shortages of qualified veterinary staff make remote controls a potential future scenario. This paper reports the results of a qualitative study conducted with a sample of nineteen official veterinarians and food business operators in Sweden. We investigated attitudes, perceived risks, and prerequisites for remote meat controls in semi-structured interviews. Results indicate both positive attitudes towards remote meat inspection, and concerns related to technical challenges, reliability and security of data transfer, and possibilities of manipulation of the remote system. Respondents also noted both negative effects, such as physical hurdles for good control, and positive impacts on animal welfare, such as shortened waiting times for slaughter. Considering the current regulatory framework, only 21% of the respondents have had any prior experience with (pilot) remote meat inspections and the additional 11% carried out remote inspections of Food Chain Information documents. Nevertheless, all participants, including the majority without any prior experience in remote inspections, assumed that remote inspections would be done via video streaming. The optimal setting for a remote meat inspection, according to our respondents, seems to be a combination of cameras at fixed locations with body cameras worn by assisting abattoir personnel. Overall, remote meat inspections are possible to introduce but not without significant legal and technical adaptations as well as definition of the conditions for this type of control flexibility.
目前，欧盟食品安全法规不允许远程进行肉类检查。然而，由于前往屠宰场和兽医人员短缺的环境影响，远程控制成为了一种潜在的未来情景。本文报告了一项在瑞典对 19 名官方兽医和食品企业经营者进行的定性研究的结果。我们在半结构化访谈中调查了他们对远程肉类控制的态度、感知风险和前提条件。结果表明，对于远程肉检，受访者的态度既有积极的一面，也有与技术挑战、数据传输的可靠性和安全性以及远程系统操纵的可能性相关的担忧。受访者还注意到了负面影响，例如对良好控制的物理障碍，以及对动物福利的积极影响，例如缩短了屠宰等待时间。考虑到当前的监管框架，只有 21%的受访者有过（试点）远程肉类检查的经验，另外 11%的受访者对食物链信息文件进行了远程检查。然而，所有的参与者，包括大多数没有远程检查经验的人，都假设远程检查将通过视频流进行。根据受访者的说法，远程肉类检查的最佳设置似乎是固定位置的摄像头与屠宰场辅助人员佩戴的体式摄像头相结合。总的来说，远程肉类检查是可以引入的，但需要进行重大的法律和技术调整，并为这种控制灵活性定义条件。
