Satisfying consumer preferences is an important element in ensuring the sustainability of the beef industry. An array of feed ingredients are available to beef producers but the effects of pre-slaughter ration composition on determinants of consumers’ decisions to purchase beef, such as appearance and sensory characteristics, are unclear. Previous research has shown that the diet of cattle can influence fat colour, but that concentrates per se had little effect on sensory attributes of beef when compared with a grass silage or grass-based ration (French et al., 2000). The objective of the current study was to examine the effect of silage fermentation and concentrate composition on the appearance and eating quality characteristics of beef.

Lamb is characterized as having a low ratio of polyunsaturated (PUFA) to saturated fatty acids (P:S ratio) of approximately 0.1-0.2; considerably less than the minimum recommended ratio of 0.45 for the human diet as a whole (Department of Health 1994). Offset against this, lamb has a favourable ratio of the beneficial PUFA of the n -3 series with the n -6/n -3 ratio being well within the recommended value of < 4.0, and is a particularly rich source of the longer chain n -3 PUFA. One of the major obstacles to improving the P:S ratio of lamb is the extensive biohydrogenation of PUFA in the rumen, resulting in some form of protection being required. The objective of the current experiment was to manipulate the P:S ratio in lamb, whilst maintaining the n- 6/n -3 ratio, through feeding protected fat sources.

The concentration of global crop and food animal production in regions where plant selenium content is low has led to a decline in the amount of selenium in the human food supply. The central reason is that where soil pH is acidic, selenium cannot be absorbed by plants, thereby preventing transfer of selenoamino acids up the food chain through cereal grains and food animal products. Direct addition of inorganic selenium salts prevents acute deficiency symptoms, however selenium salts added to food animal diets do not provide meaningful amounts of selenium in edible animal tissues. Because human selenium status is a public health concern, researchers have examined nutritional means of increasing the selenium content of meat, milk and eggs using selenium produced by yeast, which like higher plants are able to form selenoamino acids. While part of the focus is on producing ‘designer’ foods, a more general question pertains to both existing selenium levels in food animal products and to those when commercial food animals are given selenium in naturally-occurring organic vs inorganic form. The following summarizes selenium levels in edible tissues in commercial and controlled research settings where inorganic and organic (Sel-PlexTM selenium yeast, Alltech Inc.) were compared.

During cooking, chemical reactions within the muscle produce volatile and non-volatile compounds characteristic of meat aroma and taste. Polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are essential in these reactions (Mottram and Edwards, 1983). In ruminants, differences in intramuscular PUFA composition have been classically associated with high n-3 content in grass fed animals and high n-6 content in concentrate fed animals. We investigated the effect on odour perception of in vitro reactions between linoleic and α-linolenic acids in the presence of cysteine and ribose, when they were present in ratios similar to those found in meat from animals reared on forage- or concentrate-based diets.

Manipulation of the dairy cow’s diet at pasture using high-lipid concentrate is an effective natural means of enhancing the composition and physical properties of milk fat and has been applied in several countries to improve the spreadability of butter. However, because of dietary energy deficits deriving from high yield potential of cows or grass of retarded or poor quality, dairy cows are frequently offered supplementary feeds or buffers e.g. silage or additional concentrates, while at pasture. The study investigated the effect on milk fat composition when providing dairy cows with buffer feeds while they received a diet of a high-lipid concentrate and grazed grass which aimed to increase the proportion of unsaturated fatty acids.

Consumers want meat with low levels of fat and cholesterol. The fatty acid and cholesterol content of pork could be influenced by nutritional and genetic factors, and cholesterol content can also be affected by slaughter weight (Barowicz and Pietras, 1988). This study therefore examined the cholesterol content of pork from three commercial pig breed crosses slaughtered at three live weights.

There are large differences between the prices of animal products in regions with comparative advantage in livestock production and regions where production costs are higher. In particular, prices for many animal products are much higher in The European Union (EU) and The United States of America (USA) than in regions with extensive grazing areas or low-priced animal feed grains, e.g. Australia, South America and Southern Africa. These price differentials provide strong financial incentives for trade in animal products between these regions. However, trade is constrained by three main factors:

1. 1. The perishability of many animal products, resulting in additional processing costs (e.g. freezing) which may also reduce the value of the product and higher transport costs.

2. 2. The fact that in many markets, high prices have been used as an element of agricultural support policy. These are partly maintained by levies on imported products.

3. 3. Zoosanitary restrictions to control the risk of introducing livestock and human disease agents in animal products.

‘Knowledge transfer’ and ‘uptake’ are high on the agenda of government departments and research institutes. In the U.K., the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is concerned that new knowledge generated by publicly funded research is not being taken up by the industry and has funded a series of knowledge transfer initiatives. On the international front, the Department for International Development (DFID) is pressing managers of its various research programmes to demonstrate that the outputs of research are being used by farmers in developing countries and are having an impact on their livelihoods. International institutes are increasing the proportion of their resources devoted to technology transfer and dissemination programmes. These concerns and initiatives raise important conceptual, institutional and methodological issues.

In the developed world, the last fifty years has seen a great convergence of breeding objectives and strategies in all farmed species. This is part of the effects of globalisation, which has led to ever increasing specialisation of livestock producers. A general consequence is that breeding goals and structures of dairy, beef, pig and poultry production are now very similar throughout the developed world.

After some decades of successful concentration on narrow breeding goals (yield of milk solids in the dairy sector, growth, feed conversion and lean yield in meat animals) objectives have now broadened to take in product quality, reproduction and disease traits.

The combined effects of improved varieties, increased fertiliser use and irrigation coupled with increased pesticide use was instrumental in allowing world food production to double in the last 35 years. However, as we enter the 21st century world population is set to increase by a further 1.5 billion by 2020, with the rate of increase being higher in less developed than developed countries. At the same time the rate crop improvement is slowing. In addition the area of land available/appropriate for the production of food and feed resources are at best static and at worst decreasing, often due to wind and water erosion. It has also been estimated that the demand for livestock products will increase dramatically in the next 20 years, with the increase being markedly higher in developing countries (3% per year), where much of the increased demand will be generated from an increasing urban population, than developed countries (1% per year). This projected increase in demand for livestock products will require very significant increased production of cereal grain and sources of oilseeds in a manner ensuring safety for the public and the environment. It will be a major challenge for global food and feed production to decrease the environmental impact of agriculture while maintaining or improving its productivity and sustainability. This paper will discuss how GM technology can contribute a way forward with the aim of combining higher yields, improved food and feed quality, increased competitiveness with environmentally and agriculturally sustainable practices.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) confidently predict that the demand for meat will increase by 50 percent between 2000 and 2020 and for eggs by 25percent over the same period. They predict that the growth in demand will be greatest for pigs and poultry products. This challenge will be met through increases in production and productivity.

Increases in demand will be driven a combination of population increase and economic growth. The greatest increases will be in the rapidly growing economies of Asia – particularly in India and China. While local production meet much of the growing and diversifying needs of consumers it is also inevitable that international trade in animal products will grow. As the wealth of consumers increase so will their tastes diversify together with their interest in sources of food and choice. BSE and outbreaks of foot and mouth have focused consumer interests on food safety issues and have in part contributed to concerns over the production and use of genetically modified organisms.

It is axiomatic that adequate supplies of good quality food is beneficial for health. Conversely it has also long been recognised that populations suffering from malnutrition are more susceptible to various diseases and have poor health. However the concept of functional foods, as foods that offer some health-associated advantage over conventional foodstuffs is a relatively recent innovation into the human nutrition market. Functional foods are generally defined as foods that have an effect on well-being and health or result in reduction in disease risk. The advantages offered by functional foods are generally related to disease avoidance and health maintenance rather than to therapeutic effects of foods. Functional foods are now part of a worldwide nutrition market estimated at $156 billion in 2001 (Starling, 2002). However, they can only become significant in societies where food security is assured and basic foodstuffs are relatively cheap. Consequently the major markets are North America, Europe and Japan.

In 1991 it was recommended that total fat intake in the UK should be reduced to a population average of less that 33% of total daily energy intake and that saturated fatty acids should contribute no more than 10% of total energy (Department of Health, 1991). A further recommendation was that the intake of trans fatty acids should not exceed 2% of total energy. These recommendations were made primarily on the basis of the influence of fatty acids on plasma cholesterol and thereby on the development of cardiovascular disease. While associations of fat intake with other chronic diseases such as cancer, obesity and diabetes have also been suggested, it was felt that there was insufficient evidence to make specific recommendations on the basis of such claims. A reduction in saturated fat intake has remained a central target of public health nutrition within the United Kingdom ever since. Despite concerted efforts, particularly throughout the 1990s., to achieve these targets little progress has been made. In 2000, total fat intake remained at 38% and saturated fatty acid intake at 15% (DEFRA, 2001).

Selenium (Se) was first recognised as an essential nutrient in 1957. Subsequent research has shown that Se, in the form of selenocysteine, is incorporated into a range of selenoproteins in the body, which are crucial to human and animal health. The best known of these is glutathione peroxidase (GPx), which is involved in protecting cell membranes from oxidative damage by free radicals. Other selenoproteins are essential in the functioning of the immune system, in thyroid hormone metabolism and in reproduction.

There has been a shift over the last few years in the profile of diseases that veterinarians encounter in the dog. Improvements and developments in antibiotics, antihelminthics and more effective vaccines have controlled many of the infectious diseases that have caused problems in the past. As a result, there has been a relative increase in diseases that have a genetic basis.

Humans have kept animals for companionship for thousands of years. Developments during the twentieth century in intercontinental transport, especially air travel, in the husbandry of animals, and in the technology for their housing; combined with widespread availability of electricity to power environment control systems (water filtration, oxygenation, heat lamps, humidifiers, photoperiod control etc), have made it possible to obtain and maintain a very much wider range of species of wild animals in captivity than ever before. Associated with this, there has been a huge increase in interest in keeping ornamental fish, amphibians, and reptiles, and the range of species of birds and mammals kept as pets has increased markedly also.

Environmental effects are estimated to cause three-fourths of cancer deaths, of which one-third could be reduced by diet modification. Though dairy products are promoted for their nutritional value, and also condemned for alleged health risks, attention is turning to dairy products as sources of functional foods for cancer prevention.

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is a collective term used to represent positional and geometric isomers of linoleic acid with conjugated double bonds. CLAs have been reported to have a wide range of beneficial effects, including: anticarcinogenic, antiatherogenic, antidiabetic and immune stimulatory. They have been shown to alter nutrient partitioning and lipid metabolism, and reduce body fat in a number of different animal species.

In the Netherlands ammonia emission should be reduced considerably to prevent detrimental effects on the environment. Ammonia is mainly formed by enzymatic conversion of urea and other N-compounds in urine. In traditional fattening pig houses approximately 13% of the N taken in by the feed is emitted as ammonia. Different nutritional factors are influencing ammonia emission. Of these the protein content, the acid-base balance and the carbohydrate composition are the most important. In different experiments the sole effects of these factors on ammonia emission have been investigated. The objective of this study was to determine whether the effects of these factors are additive.

The Virology Department, VSD, DARDNI, in collaboration with colleagues in Europe and N America has had an active research programme on porcine circovirus-related diseases, including PMWS, for the last 5 years. This presentation will highlight some of our on-going research in this area.