[LadyEarth]

I have approached our local baker and greengrocer who are happy to give me their food waste for the pigs 

But as I plan to sell the meat I will need to comply with the feed hygiene regulations which means registering myself as a feed business (and the baker, and the greengrocer).  The form seems very simple and I doubt there will be any issues with cross-contamination. However the regulations require access to a laboratory and samples must be kept etc. which seems a bit onerous for a bin full once a week.

I have spoken to Animal Health, Food Standards Agency, Government vets etc.  all of whom think I should call one of the others!

Does anyone have some clear guidance on how a small scale producer can feed safe waste food to pigs? I know the easy answer is "Don't" but that's not the kind of girl I am!

[The Woodsiders]

Reference the last paragraph of your post, do you mean you do not take "don"t" for an answer? if so why not go the whole way and not bother to get any food hygiene qualification, unless I am much mistaken and regulations have changed recently, you cannot feed waste to pigs unless it has come from your garden, allotment etc and not been near any kitchen so avoiding cross contamination.

[LadyEarth]

Thanks for taking the time to reply Woodsiders, do I take it that your answer to my question is "No."?

[Marches Farmer]

Ten million animals were culled in 2001 when feed regulations were not correctly observed.  Would you want to be the one to cause the next F&M outbreak?  Fruit and vegetables directly from field or garden - yes. 

[ladyK]

It seems to me that LE is talking about the process of getting official approval to feed foods that are actually legal.
I'm not competent or experienced but as I understand it, the law prohibits feeding anything that has gone through any kind of kitchen due to the threat of contamination - hence vegetables from your own garden that have not gone through your kitchen are legal. So would any kind of vegetables that you can prove have not gone through any kind of kitchen not be OK as well? The greengrocers is not a kitchen so you could in theory prove that veg from there can be fed legally  if you can bear to go through the procedure that presumably every commercial feed producer has to go through. (Assuming you can also prove no animal products are stored on the greengrocers premises either - though not sure a bakers can be considered not a kitchen?)
Not sure if it's worth the effort/expense but I can see the thinking behind LE's question. I don't think she is in any way suggesting feeding anything illegally.

[devonlad]

Like others I am totally supportive of not messing about with fairly clear regs. and don't find it difficult to avoid feeding them stuff which is illegal. yes I wish feed was cheaper but not to the extent that I am willing to forget what foot and mouth is. HOWEVER there are exceptions and i'm pretty sure bakery waste is ok and that a bakery does not count as catering establishment- this link to a defra page may make it clearer 

http://adlib.everysite.co.uk/adlib/defra/content.aspx?id=000HK277ZX.0B48LK5Y10G3Z

hope that's usable if copied and pasted- really useful table clarifying the situation plus clarification of what constitutes catering and non catering establ;ishments

[LadyEarth]

Thanks for your helpful input LadyK and DevonLad 

I'm not sure how anyone got the impression I am trying to bypass or ignore the regulations    My question is how can I ensure that I am within the regulations?

Feed waste from non-catering establishments is routinely fed to many commercially and intensively reared pigs but some of the regulations assume that farming is taking place on an industrial scale which makes it difficult for a small scale farmer to adhere to the regulations even though there may be a heightened ability to quality control.

I am already confident that the food waste is of a high quality and there has been no cross-contamination from the supplying premises.  I can further quality control this as I will be feeding the waste on a piece by piece basis and can make a visual check of each item before feeding it to the pigs.  It is simply the task of taking samples to send to a laboratory (which seems pointless as the feed would not be homogenised) and storing samples from each days waste that seems excessive.

In an intensive unit such waste would be fed by the truck load and such procedures would be necessary for quality control and to ensure no inadvertent cross-contamination.  Where I am feeding half a dozen pears and three loaves of bread any (unlikely) contamination would be evident and the labour and laboratory costs of sampling would be unnecessary, unhelpful and expensive.

I have spent countless hours on the phone and emailing the relevant regulatory bodies to be as sure as possible that I will be feeding my pigs healthily, safely and within the law.  The people who would blatantly disregard the guidance wouldn't be on here asking for yet more information, would they?

[Fowgill Farm]

I think you need to see here www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/by-prods/wastefood/index.htm
It may help and it defo animal health who deal with it also see BPA wesite more info there about feeding regs 
see www.british pigs.org.uk
Hth
Mandy

[honeyend]

I think they make it difficult because the power that be do not want you to do it, by having the common rule that no food waste should be fed in theory it makes it easier to police, but someone who really wanted to break the law would never in reality be checked that often and if they did simple subterfuge would make it hard for a passing inspector to spot.
  I do not understand why it is common to buy stock feed carrots, nips and potatoes which have been processed usually meaning washed and graded, but there seems a block on bread when as long as it is fit for vegetarians, has not been stored or with made from meat by products, there seems to be no real risk. My only concern is that some bakers now make sausage rolls, bacon puffs etc, and there is a risk of cross contamination.   Baileys Horse feeds have sold cooked granulated bread for years.

[LadyEarth]

Thanks FF and Honeyend.

I'm pretty sure that the food is safe so I'm going to send in the registration forms for myself and the suppliers.  If the system has any teeth at all we should have a visit or phone call from the powers that be who can confirm our arrangements are safe or tell us how we need to improve.

[mowhaugh]

I'm not sure how anyone got the impression I am trying to bypass or ignore the regulations   

Neither have I, I thought you were very clear.  I don't have any answers, but look forward to hearing how you get on - I  also understood that the products you are talking about have the potential to be completely fine as long as they come from the appropriate sources e.g. premises that only handle the one food type so no risk of any cross contamination, but agree that you want to do everything you can to protect both your pigs and youself but ensuring you adhere to the regulations.  Good luck. 

[HappyHippy]

Talk to the animal health and welfare officer at your local council (the ones who attend livestock auction markets) and they will give you information. It's normally them who grant the licence.
We had one when we collected waste from a fruit salad prep factory (no meat products handled and no onsite cooking) which made it which made it very straightforward 
HTH
Karen

[devonlady]

When feeding fruit and veg from a greengrocers do be very careful about going through it!  I collected from a greengrocer most evenings and thought I was on to a good thing even though I had to sift out plastic wrappings and flowers etc,
Then, one day I found a half-eaten bacon roll in the bin. I discarded the whole collection and told the shop next day what had happened and explained the possible consequences.  No, no, that wouldn't happen again( remember, I was saving them a good deal of money each week by taking everything away) The very next week I found a discarded sausage sandwich in the bin and that was that, they can now pay for their waste to be collected.

[Marches Farmer]

I think you've just amply illustrated the potential pitfalls!

[LadyEarth]

What I find reassuring is that even though there was a flaw (the supplier's negligence) the small scale smallholder provides a second line of defence and the pigs were protected. Well done Devonlady   

Although the primary infection of FMD was likely catering waste including ABP in 2001,  the impact was massively increased by the influence of intensive farming practices.  Conscientious small scale producers already minimise disease risk by providing healthier environments at lower stocking densities.  The increased human to animal rate provides an additional layer of protection that was absent from the farms that facilitated the initial outbreak.

The farmer from the first affected farm was convicted of failing to notify the authorities of FMD and of feeding untreated waste.  i.e. he broke the law in the first place.  You can't legislate against stupid/wilfully ignorant...