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Food safety education starts at the farm level

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are getting a first-hand view of food animal production in Kentucky this week. 

Sean Stapleton, a veterinarian and epidemiologist with the CDC says the people who work in human health and animal health are working to keep people and the food they eat safe.  He tells Brownfield it’s a collaborative effort. “Whether that’s through research, or extension to the public, or communication with the public,” he says.  “Education, specifically related to food safety, starts at the farm.”

AUDIO: Sean Stapleton, Centers for Disease Control

Louise Francois-Watkins a medical doctor and an epidemiologist says having opportunities to engage with food animal producers provides a better background when it comes to researching issues like antimicrobial resistance.  “We know that it is something that spreads through bacteria that can infect people, but also spread through animals and through the environment,” she says.  “And seeing how people and animals interact, and how animals become food and better understanding those processes is really helpful in terms of the work that we do for understanding how resistance has the opportunity to spread.”

AUDIO: Louise Francois-Watkins, Centers for Disease Control

Seth Krantz, the veterinarian for Tosh Farm says both segments have the same objective.  “And just because one of us uses, for example, antibiotics slightly differently, really, we’ve all got the appropriate goals in mind to use them responsibly,” he says.  “To protect animal health, with the ultimate outcome of protecting human health.”

AUDIO: Seth Krantz, Tosh Farms