EBVS European College diplomas Milk & Meat Hygiene, Food Safety & Public Health: practice questions

EBVS European College diplomas (e.g. DipECVS, DipECVIM-CA) · Europe · European Board of Veterinary Specialisation and the individual colleges

Original practice questions written to the published syllabus · not past papers

6worked here, free

42written to this exam in this subject

10syllabus units

What this subject covers

Keeping food of animal origin safe: milk and meat hygiene, ante- and post-mortem inspection, food-borne disease, HACCP, residues and MRLs, and food law.

In the exams: ICAR AICE-JRF core group 06; ICAR AIEEA-PG 13 (VPH & Epidemiology); EGEL Plus food safety 15 and food quality 11; SAVC Paper 3 VPH 30; RCVS SME production animal domain includes VPH

Milk hygiene
Milk-borne zoonoses
Ante-mortem inspection
Post-mortem inspection and judgement of carcasses
Food-borne infections
Food-borne intoxications
HACCP
Food safety standards and legislation: Codex and national regulators
Residues and maximum residue limits
Public health microbiology

Where the 42 questions fall

How our questions for EBVS European College diplomas spread across the units of Milk & Meat Hygiene, Food Safety & Public Health. Difficulty: 2 easy, 17 medium, 23 hard.

Residues and maximum residue limits	8
Milk-borne zoonoses	5
Public health microbiology	5
Post-mortem inspection and judgement of carcasses	5
Milk hygiene	4
Food-borne infections	4
Food safety standards and legislation: Codex and national regulators	4
Ante-mortem inspection	3
Food-borne intoxications	3
HACCP	1

6 practice questions, worked

Choose an answer, then open the working. Each explanation says why the right answer is right and why the others are not.

1 · Milk hygiene · hard

Under the EU rule that raw cow milk must not exceed 400,000 somatic cells/mL as a rolling geometric mean over three months, a farm's monthly results are 250,000, 300,000 and 700,000 cells/mL. What is the assessed value and is the farm compliant?

About 417,000 cells/mL; not compliant
About 374,000 cells/mL; compliant
700,000 cells/mL; not compliant because one result exceeds the limit
300,000 cells/mL; compliant

Answer and working

B. About 374,000 cells/mL; compliant

Geometric mean = cube root of (250,000 x 300,000 x 700,000) = 374,444 cells/mL, below 400,000, so compliant. The arithmetic mean (416,667) is the common error and would wrongly fail the farm; the rule is a geometric mean, which damps a single high month. A single result above the limit does not by itself breach a rolling-mean rule, and 300,000 is the median, which the rule does not use.

Further reading: Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, Annex III Section IX

2 · Residues and maximum residue limits · medium

The most sensitive toxicological study of a veterinary drug gives a NOAEL of 5 mg/kg body weight per day. Using an uncertainty factor of 100, what is the ADI and the corresponding daily amount for a 60 kg adult?

50 µg/kg bw per day; 3 mg per day
500 µg/kg bw per day; 30 mg per day
50 µg/kg bw per day; 0.05 mg per day
500 mg/kg bw per day; 30,000 mg per day

Answer and working

A. 50 µg/kg bw per day; 3 mg per day

ADI = NOAEL / 100 = 0.05 mg/kg = 50 µg/kg bw per day; for 60 kg, 0.05 x 60 = 3 mg per day. Using a factor of 10 (500 µg/kg; 30 mg) omits one of the two tenfold factors (interspecies and intraspecies); forgetting to multiply by body weight gives 0.05 mg; multiplying by 100 (500 mg/kg) inverts the logic.

3 · Residues and maximum residue limits · hard

Using a model daily diet of 300 g muscle, 100 g liver, 50 g kidney, 50 g fat and 1.5 kg milk, residues are 50, 200, 400, 100 and 20 µg/kg in those foods. The ADI is 2 µg/kg bw per day for a 60 kg person. What share of the ADI does the diet supply?

642%
45%
75%
50%

Answer and working

C. 75%

Intake = 0.3x50 + 0.1x200 + 0.05x400 + 0.05x100 + 1.5x20 = 15 + 20 + 20 + 5 + 30 = 90 µg. Limit = 2 x 60 = 120 µg. 90/120 = 75%. Adding the concentrations without weighting by intake gives 642%; leaving out milk gives 50%; dividing by the ADI without body weight gives 45.

4 · Ante-mortem inspection · hard

Food chain information shows that a batch of pigs was treated with an antimicrobial and the withdrawal period ends in three days. The pigs are healthy. What should the official veterinarian do?

Pass them for slaughter because they are healthy
Detain or return the pigs until the withdrawal period ends
Condemn them at ante-mortem
Slaughter them and freeze the carcasses until the withdrawal period ends

Answer and working

B. Detain or return the pigs until the withdrawal period ends

Animals within a withdrawal period must not enter the food chain; delaying slaughter is the correct option. Clinical health does not remove residues, and freezing does not destroy them.

5 · Residues and maximum residue limits · medium

Which method is normally used to confirm a positive residue screening result?

A second microbial inhibitor test
The California Mastitis Test
The alkaline phosphatase test
Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

Answer and working

D. Liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry

LC-MS/MS identifies and quantifies the residue. Repeating a screening test does not identify the substance.

6 · Public health microbiology · hard

Which pathogen poses a special risk in chilled ready-to-eat meat products with a long shelf life?

Listeria monocytogenes
Campylobacter jejuni and coli
Salmonella enterica Enteritidis
Clostridium perfringens

Answer and working

A. Listeria monocytogenes

Listeria grows at refrigeration temperature and contaminates products after cooking. Campylobacter does not grow in the cold, and C. perfringens needs warm temperatures.

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