Sheep farming and the impact of environment on food safety

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SmallRuminantResearch135(2016)66–74

ContentslistsavailableatScienceDirect

Small

Ruminant

Research

j o u r n al ho me p ag e :w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s m a l l r u m r e s

Review

article

Sheep

farming

and

the

impact

of

environment

on

food

safety

q

G. Scortichini

a,∗

,

M. Amorena

b

,

G. Brambilla

c

,

R. Ceci

d

,

G. Chessa

e

,

G. Diletti

d

,

M. Esposito

f

_,

_V.

_Esposito

g

_,

_V.

_Nardelli

h

a_Istituto_{Zooprofilattico}_Sperimentale_{dell’Umbria}_e_delle_Marche,₀₆₁₂₆_Perugia,_Italy

b_Facoltà_di_Bioscienze_e_Tecnologie_Agro_Alimentari_e_Ambientali,_Università_degli_Studi_di_Teramo,₆₄₁₀₀_Teramo,_Italy c_Istituto_Superiore_di_Sanità,_Reparto_di_Chimica_{Tossicologica,}₀₀₁₆₁_Roma,_Italy

d_Istituto_{Zooprofilattico}_Sperimentale_{dell’Abruzzo}_e_del_Molise,₆₄₁₀₀_Teramo,_Italy e_Istituto_{Zooprofilattico}_Sperimentale_della_Sardegna,₀₇₁₀₀_Sassari,_Italy f_Istituto_{Zooprofilattico}_Sperimentale_del_Mezzogiorno,₈₀₀₅₅_Portici,_Napoli,_Italy g_ARPA_PUGLIA,_Dipartimento_di_Taranto,₇₄₁₂₃_Taranto,_Italy

h_Istituto_{Zooprofilattico}_Sperimentale_della_Puglia_e_Basilicata,₇₁₁₂₁_Foggia,_Italy

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r

t

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Articlehistory:

Availableonline19December2015 Keywords: Sheep Dioxins Foodsafety Foodsecurity Environment

a

b

s

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a

c

t

Sheepflocksaresensitivetothetopsoilintake,viatheirgrazingactivityandtheingestionofsoil

parti-clesincorporatedintothehayespeciallyduringharvestingoperations.Suchintakeisestimatedbetween

2and20%ofthedrymatterfromgrassandhayandmayvaryaccountingforseasonaland

geograph-icaldifferencesinthequalityofpastures.Thepersistentorganicpollutantsaccumulatedinsoilsuch

aspolychlorodibenzo-p-dioxinsand-furans(PCDD/Fs),anddioxin-likepolychlorinatedbiphenyls

(DL-PCBs),maytransferthroughthefoodchain.Inthispaper,theauthorsconsiderthequalityofsoilsand

thetoxicokineticfactorsthatallowthetransferofthecontaminationtomilkandtheedibletissuesin

sheep.ThewiderangeofPCDD/Fconcentrationreportedinmilk(0.05–30pgWHO1998-TEQ/gfat),meat

(0.18–4.9pgWHO1998-TEQ/gfat)andliver(4.8–161pgWHO1998-TEQ/gfat)fromextensivelyrearedflocks

inareasofEuropeancountriesunderdifferentindustrialandurbanpressures,indicatetheopportunity

toadoptriskmanagementoptionsbasedonenvironmentalqualitystandardsandgoodagriculture

prac-tices,abletosupporttheaccesstoasafeandnutritiousfood.WithrespecttothePCDD/FandDL-PCB

intake,liverrepresentsthemostcontaminatedfooditem,foritsabilitytobindsuchlipophilic

contami-nantsirrespectiveofitslipidcontent.Case-studiesfromtheMediterraneanareaareillustrated,tosupport

theenvironmentandhealthapproachalsointermsofsustainabilityoffamilyfarmsproduction.

1. Introduction

Sheepproduction hasmany potentialoutputs, such asmilk, meat,skin,wool.In2012,theFoodandAgricultureOrganization oftheUnitedNations(FAO)estimateda worldsheepmilk pro-ductionof10.52milliontonsagainstasheepmeatproductionat 13.76milliontons(FAO,2015).Mostsheepmilkisproducedinthe Mediterraneanregion,andmostdairysheepbreedsarefoundin thisregionandtheNearEast.Onthecontrary,meatproductionis morerelevantinAsiaandOceania.Morethanhalfoftheworld’s sheeppopulationisindevelopingcountries:39%inAsia,20%in Africa,16%inOceania,against15%inEurope,and10%inAmerica.

q ThispaperispartofaSpecialIssueentitled“SIPAOCConference2014”.Guest EditedbyAnnunziataGiangaspero,AgostinoSeviandMariaManfredi.

∗Correspondingauthor.

E-mailaddress:g.scortichini@izsum.it(G.Scortichini).

Theworldwidesheepdensityreportsareawith>250heads/km2 intheMediterraneanandNorthAfricaregions,intheUnited King-dom,Mid-andFar-East,inNewZealand,andinsomedistrictsof Australia(Fig.1).

Sheepareofgreatimportanceasamajorsourceoflivelihoodof thesmallfarmersandthelandlessinruralcommunities.This high-lightsthepotentialimpactofthemanagementofthesheeprearing onfoodsafetyandonfoodsecurityissuesinsomedistricts.Inrural and extensivefarming systems,thestronginteraction ofsheep withtheenvironment makestheenvironmentalqualityofsoils, air,andsedimentsrelatedtowatersupply,akeyfactorto guar-anteeasafeandsecurealimentaryintakeofsheepderivedfoods. Foodofanimaloriginrepresentsthemainsourceofexposureforthe generalpopulationtopersistentorganicpollutantssuchasdioxins andpolychlorobiphenylsframedwithintheStockholmConvention adoptedunderthecoordinationoftheUnitedNationsEnvironment Program(UNEP,2001).Inthispaper,wewishtobringtheItalian

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.smallrumres.2015.12.013