Page 63 - Minerva Foods Sustainability Report 2016

Tracking
e Company maintains cattle control pro- grams at commercial partners' farms, in order to identify and prevent chemical residue from being transferred to the end product and also to guarantee adoption of sustainable practices. e tracking system monitors the entire value chain, from purchase of cattle to delivery of the nal product. is allows for organization of outbound ordering, making it so that the rst products produced are quickly transported, al- lowing any item to be located in real time with- in the distribution chain.
Use of injectables
A Good Practices in Use of Injectables guidebook is available to Minerva Foods' livestock farmer partners, containing management techniques to minimize and eliminate health risks related to cattle farming. Produced in partnership with the Technical Animal Health Department of Ouro - no and the Gaia Cattle Health Research Group at the Federal Rural University of the Amazon, the guidebook also provides guidelines on adoption of good animal welfare practices for production of the best quality and most pro table food, and covers other topics such as prevention, control and treatment of diseases, medications and ap- plication of vaccines.
e ten
commandments of beef quality
Minerva Foods uses quality standards and crite- ria for the meat it produces, processes and sells. Ten parameters are used, which are conveyed to partner livestock farmers:
•Pay attention to animal health, particular- ly vaccination campaigns and control of en- doparasites and ectoparasites.
• Do not use prohibited medications, prohibit- ed hormones and poultry litter.
• Respect the waiting period for veterinary products and use control to prevent animals with meat waste from being sent for slaughter.
• Herd tracking, sanitary control and guarantee of animal origin.
• Send all transport and animal identi cation documentation.
• Follow animal welfare concepts: do not use cattle prods or electric prods and take spe- cial care in management and loading to avoid stress.
• Form lots of animals with the same age and size to facilitate the transport and pre-slaugh- ter management stages, preventing herd stress.
• Provide quality water and a balanced diet, contributing to better nishing of the carcass.
• Try to slaughter younger animals, due to the
requirements of the biggest markets, while also promoting increased turnover of animals on properties.
• Promote employee training, since good man- agement results in healthy animals.
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