Ethics & Traceability
Animal Welfare
The production process of animal serum, plasma and other blood-derived animal by-products are following the principles for animal welfare established by OIE (Terrestrial Animal Health Code 2013, Volume I, section 7):
- That the use of animals carries with it an ethical responsibility to ensure the welfare of such animals to the greatest extent practicable.
- That the internationally recognized “three Rs” (reduction in numbers of animals; refinement of experimental methods and replacement of animals with non-animal techniques) provide valuable guidance for the use of animals in science.
By making it possible to replace experiments on live animals with in-vitro cell culture, the use of Animal Serum enhances the implementation of the three Rs: Reduction, Refinement and Replacement.
Ethical Production
SeraFrance works among other products with fetal bovine blood which is collected as a by-product from cows slaughtered for reasons unrelated to the animal’s condition of pregnancy. To ensure the ethical production of Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS), SeraFrance has implemented procedures in the bleeding process that eliminate the risk of the fetus feeling any pain from the incision. Blood from unborn calves is collected only after these are registered to be dead, verified by operators through pertinent test measures for vital signs.
EU origin FBS benefits from EU’s animal welfare guidelines as covered by EU regulations, with detailed guidelines for the treatment on farms of animals, during transportation, and in abattoirs.
Traceability
EU origin FBS guarantees BSE testing as per EU regulations and assures effective control systems and compliance with EU standards regarding the use of GMOs and hormones. Traceability of the products back to the individual animals and farms (through ear tagging) makes possible production of the products provided with “ID” or “Passport”.