Screening for salmonella at Swedish cereal-producing farms - a hidden source of salmonella contamination in the feed chain?

Cereal grown in Sweden is today seen as a safe feed-material in terms of salmonella content. This is reflected in the exception from the requirement for heat treatment for poultry feed produced from Swedish cereals. However, during the summer of 2015 salmonella was detected along the production line in a Swedish feed mill. The contaminant was traced back to two different crop production farms that was delivering cereal to the feed fill.

The aim of the project is to determine prevalence of salmonella at crop production farms that grow, dry and store their own cereals to be sold to a feed mill. Results obtained from the study can be used to evaluate if the assumption that cereals grown in Sweden is safe in terms of salmonella content still stands.