Risks to farm animals from pathogens in composted catering waste containing meat

Area of Science:

• Veterinary Epidemiology
• Food Safety
• Environmental Microbiology

Background:

• Uncooked meat in catering waste poses risks of animal pathogens like BSE and swine fevers.
• Animal By-Products Regulations control meat disposal to prevent farm animal disease outbreaks.
• Compost from catering waste applied to grazing land may transmit pathogens to farm animals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To estimate the risks to farm animals from applying composted catering waste to grazing land.
• To identify key factors influencing pathogen risk in composted catering waste.
• To define operational conditions for safe composting of catering waste.

Main Methods:

• Risk assessment modeling using worst-case assumptions where data were lacking.
• Evaluation of pathogen destruction efficiency during composting.
• Analysis of pathogen decay and dilution in soil post-compost application.

Main Results:

• Classical swine fever virus was identified as the highest risk pathogen.
• A recommended composting time/temperature condition is 60°C for two days.
• A two-barrier composting approach with a two-month grazing ban reduces risk significantly.

Conclusions:

• Composting catering waste containing meat can be a safe disposal method when regulated properly.
• The defined operational conditions and grazing ban effectively mitigate risks to farm animals.
• This study informed the Animal By-Products Regulations 2003 for catering waste composting.