Research commissioned for food safety risks imposed by wild birds

18 Jan 2023

Birds introduce complex food-safety risks as they carry multiple pathogens, are difficult to exclude from farms, and regularly defecate on crops. Yet very few wild bird species have been studied and, those that have, form a minority of farm bird communities. Moreover, existing studies stop at examining pathogen prevalence in birds and do not holistically assess food safety risk. For a species to pose a significant risk, it must carry pathogens, visit fields, defecate on crops, and produce feces that support pathogen survival.

Research in the US has been commissioned to identify these risks and further details can be found here:

Towards a holistic assessment of the food-safety risks imposed by wild birds (centerforproducesafety.org)

KARP_FINAL.pdf (centerforproducesafety.org)