Safe meat obtained in easier ways: moving towards a simpler method requires a collaborative and innovative approach from all stakeholders.

To improve meat safety, the EU has financed the „RIBMINS“ COST Action network. In work group 4 (WG4), the focus is on alternative approaches to traditional meat inspection and their potential in future meat safety assurance systems. So far, WG4 has investigated the meat inspection code systems and identified substantial differences between countries and abattoirs, disabling easy comparison of data. The next step will be to identify how to harmonise these criteria. Moreover, a strengths-weaknessesopportunities- threats (SWOT)-like analysis for the inspection systems in place and the current changes has been made.