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Securing the feed and food supply chain in the event of biological and agro-terrorist (BAT) damage scenarios (SiLeBAT)

10/2010-09/2014

This third-party funded project is conducted in the framework of the BfR research program for the safety of national and international value chains.

Support code of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research: FKZ 13N11202

Homepage of the project: www.silebat.de

The project SiLeBAT elaborates practical solutions to secure food supplies for the general population in the event of a biological and agro-terrorist (BAT) damage scenario. The research focus is laid on the operability of the affected food commodity chain. Solutions for prevention, early detection and damage containment will be developed.

The project examines BAT damage scenarios, which jeopardise the health of the general population through the contamination of foods or indirectly through the infection of livestock. This could for instance happen through the intentional contamination of agricultural products in the field of feed production.

As an example for a corresponding scenario, an attack on the "beef commodity chain" is studied. The "beef commodity chain" starts with the import of feed components and leads through the production of feeds, the rearing of the animals, the slaughtering and processing to the distribution of the finished meat and dairy products to the retail trade. In the event of a biological or agro-terroristic attack on this commodity chain it would be necessary to include all areas of the commodity chain into the damage analyses and the development of management options. Effective and co-ordinated acting of all those involved in crisis management is only possible if there is a secured availability of comprehensive and valid technical information. For that reason the structuring and making available of technical information is an essential component of the approach developed by the research network. This includes, amongst others, the following topics: epidemiology and tenacity of agents, availability and effectiveness of detection procedures, detection limits, sample preparation methods, decontamination processes, handling rules, recommendations for handling and management procedures etc. Furthermore, computer-based procedures to analyse commodity flows and assess risks and crisis management options will be developed (e.g. cost/benefit analyses). Technical information, which is not or only incompletely available, is elaborated and / or updated within the framework of the project. Another goal is to elaborate a solution which makes all resources developed and released within the project available to the parties involved in case of need through a specially designed, secured and extendable information platform. In parallel, a practising and training concept is elaborated and implemented in an exemplary manner.

In order to guarantee the applicability of the research results and take into account the needs of all stakeholders concerned, representatives of industry associations, business undertakings as well as regional and federal authorities are closely integrated into the project.

Project partner:

  • German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Department Biological Safety Coordination)
  • German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Department Risk Communication
  • German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, Department Safety of the Food Chain
  • Analytik Jena AG
  • Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL)
  • Free University Berlin, Institute of Animal Nutrition
  • Friedrich-Löffler Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute for Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses
  • Friedrich-Löffler Institute, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Institute of Epidemiology
  • Johann Heinrich von Thünen Institute, Federal Research Institute for Rural Areas, Forestry and Fisheries, Institute of Farm Economics
  • Max Rubner Institute, Federal Research Institute of Nutrition and Food, Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology
  • BALVI GmbH
  • University Bonn, Department Health Care Management

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Press releases

 (1)
Date Title Keywords
08.11.2011
39/2011
Safe Food - even in case of damage caused by a bio or agro terrorist attack

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External Links

 (1)
Link
SiLeBAT – Versorgungssicherheit der Bevölkerung

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