The Food Fortress scheme developed with the Queen’s University Institute for Global Food Security gives NIGTA a world leading position in the field of feed assurance.
Based on an extensive risk analysis of all potential contaminants the scheme involves an industry wide strategic sampling and testing program covering imported materials and finished feeds.
For a list of FOOD FORTRESS MEMBERS Please go to www.foodfortress.co.uk/members
Food Fortress Results lcan be found on the Food Fortress Website at www.foodfortress.co.uk/ffresults
- Category: Food Fortress
Further developments to Northern Ireland’s unique quality control system for the animal feed industry were unveiled at a meeting in Armagh this week.
The Food Fortress network is made up of feed producers and importers contributing to a program of sampling and testing to protect the food chain from contamination and currently covers close to 5 million tonnes of compound feed production.
Welcoming the members, Food Fortress director, Robin Irvine reported that membership now exceeded 80 companies – located from North Antrim to Tipperary and Kilkenny and covering all compound feed produced in Northern Ireland plus around 50% of production in the South and a substantial tonnage in mainland UK.
Members heard of the newly formed company structure and the appointment of a management steering group to direct the company’s development and direction. The role of InvestNI in giving financial help with the set up and administration of the network was outlined and Linda Jameson from InvestNI was welcomed to the meeting.
- Category: Food Fortress
The animal feed trade has united behind a scheme which is delivering major improvements to the security of Northern Ireland's most important industry. The food chain is a safer place as a result of the Food Fortress program now in operation with all the main feed manufacturers in the province.
According to Robin Irvine who manages the program on behalf of the feed trade “There are now 47 feed producing companies participating in the scheme and we have the most comprehensive program of animal feed monitoring anywhere in the world”
Introducing the new logo and brand imagery Robin said “The Food Fortress is now established as the badge of safer feed and our challenge to the businesses further along the food chain is to recognize and promote the fact that livestock produced through our quality schemes here in Northern Ireland has added value in terms of its provenance. This is a scheme which differentiates our product and gives us an advantage over our competitors.
- Category: Food Fortress
The outcome for the pilot scheme has exceeded our best hopes – it has proven that the science underpinning the scheme is robust in practice and it has given a clean bill of health to our industry, with all results well within the safety margins which had been set.
In the six months of the pilot, covering an estimated production of 1.2m tonnes of feed, the 18 participant mills provided -
200 samples for Heavy Metals
32 samples for Dioxins and Dioxin like PCBs
128 samples for Mycotoxin, including 32 samples for Alfatoxin
2 mills per month screened for 13 key pesticides
All mills were tested at least quarterly - some monthly depending on production
This represents a massive increase in the number of samples tested - delivering between 5 and 10 times the level of surveillance previously carried out by the industry.
All of the samples tested in the trial were well below both the internal investigatory limits, and the much higher legal limits. Indeed, in many cases the contaminants were undetected, but as is the practice in such instances, we assume a result equal to the lowest limit of detection. The actual results in are set out in the attached appendices.
The report has been reviewed by Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University.
“The results are extremely encouraging and it is without doubt to the credit of the industry that it is now operational and delivering a greatly enhanced level of quality assurance across the supply chain. The scheme is an exemplar of what can be achieved by an industry working together and can only be viewed as a positive in terms of differentiating NI food produce from the rest of the world. The full scale implementation of the Food Fortress scheme for feed materials is highly recommended and will be fully supported by the Institute” - Professor Chris Elliott.
- Category: Food Fortress
The hoped for improvements in the global dairy markets seem to be far in the future and dairy farmers are coming to terms with the prospect of low prices for many months to come.
The scale of the collapse in dairy markets and the duration of the problem is putting many farm businesses under severe pressure and causing difficult questions to be asked about their future in milk production.
There is no quick fix in prospect and with winter bonuses discontinued, prices are continuing to fall. Current milk prices are well below the cost of production on most farms and the focus must be on reducing that unit cost of production to ensure the survival of the business until a better demand – supply balance is established and dairy product prices improve.
The vast majority of the provinces dairy farms are efficient and well managed but even on the best units a close analysis of performance and benchmarking of results can highlight opportunities to further improve the efficiencies and drive down costs.
- Category: Food Fortress
- You are here:
-
Home
- FOOD FORTRESS