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Script: Palatine Tonsils |
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Intro:
Welcome to USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service podcast. Each episode will bring
you cutting edge news and information about how FSIS is working to ensure public health
protection through food safety. While we’re on the job, you can rest assured that your
meat, poultry, and processed egg products are safe, wholesome, properly labeled, and packaged
correctly. So turn up your volume and listen in.
Host:
Welcome. I’m Commander Jeff Tarrant from FSIS. With me is Mary Porretta. Mary has been
with FSIS for more than 12 years. She is a program analyst in the Policy Issuances Division
of the Office of Policy, Program, and Employee Development. Her duties involve the analysis
and the development of Agency regulations and other policy documents including FSIS Notices
and Directives.
Today, we’re going to talk about identification and removal of the palatine and lingual
tonsils during the cattle slaughter dressing procedure.
This podcast contains some visuals to help explain what we’ll be talking about. So if
your MP3 player doesn’t have the capability to download visual files, you can go to FSIS’
Web site at www.fsis.usda.gov and type in “Lingual
and Palatine Tonsils” in FSIS’ search function. And you’ll come up with very helpful visual
guidance to augment what we’re discussing today.
Tell me, Mary, why is removal of these tonsils important?
Guest:
Well, as most cattle slaughter plant operators know, the palatine and lingual tonsils
are the large oval mass of lymphoid tissue embedded in the lateral wall on each side of
the oral pharynx. They’re considered to be specified risk materials, or SRMs.
SRMs are the tissues in cattle that have been determined to carry the highest risk of
infection when they are harvested from cattle affected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy,
also known as BSE or mad cow disease.
Host:
And BSE has been linked to human disease?
Guest:
Well, experimental and epidemiologic studies have linked the occurrence of the human disease
variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease to exposure to the BSE agent, most likely through the
consumption of food containing high risk ingredients derived from infected cattle.
Host:
I seem to remember there’s something different about the tonsils compared to other SRMs
– something about the age?
Guest:
That’s right! The lingual and palatine tonsils, like the distal ileum of the small intestine,
are considered SRMs no matter how old the cow is. It doesn’t matter if it’s over 30 months
or under 30 months.
That means these tissues must be removed from all cattle. As a matter
of fact, FSIS Notice
99-08 (PDF)was issued on December 15, 2008, to remind everyone of this.
Host:
Now, from what I hear, the palatine and lingual tonsils can be pretty tricky to identify
and remove.
Guest:
Yes, they can be especially difficult if you’re dealing with Beef Market Heads, which
can only be saved from cattle younger than 30 months of age.
Host:
And the tonsils still have to be removed because they are considered SRMs in cattle of
all ages.
Guest:
Correct.
Host:
Well, let’s start with the palatine tonsils. Where are they located?
Guest:
Well, the two palatine tonsils are located at the 4 and 8 o’clock positions of the opening
into the mouth cavity when looking at the back of the head, as you would see in a typical
tongue-in head presentation. They are located in what are known as the palatine sinuses.
The palatine sinuses look like holes, one on each side of the soft palate. At the time
of post mortem, the tonsils may be swollen and red, making them easier to see. Are you
with me so far, Jeff?
Host:
I think so.
Guest:
Okay, let’s move on to the lingual tonsils. The lingual tonsils are located at the base
of the tongue behind the last, or most rear, vallate papillae.
Host:
What are the vallate papillae?
Guest:
They’re the large bumps at the back of the tongue. The lingual tonsils are located between
the most rear of these large bumps and the palatine sinus holes.
Host:
Now that we have some idea where these tonsils are located, how would they be removed?
Guest:
There are two methods that may be used. These should work whether the plant is saving
Beef Market Heads or just the tongue.
The simplest is to make a transverse cut just behind the last vallate papillae of the
tongue. All tissue must be removed from the tongue at the site of, and caudal to, the
cut. This should be sufficient to remove both sets of tonsils.
Host:
And what’s the second method?
Guest:
That involves removing the epithelium and underlining muscle to a depth of at least 5
millimeters, or roughly a quarter of an inch, behind the last vallate papillae. Again,
all tissues caudal to the “skinned area” must also be removed.
It’s important to remember that all tissues of the palatine and lingual tonsils must be
completely removed to be in compliance with FSIS regulations. This is spelled out in
FSIS Directive
6100.4 (PDF), and Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations,
Section 310.22.
Host:
I appreciate your dropping by today, Mary.
Again, I’d like to mention that pictures of what Mary described in this podcast, as well
as an excellent presentation on the topic prepared by the Agency’s Policy Development
Division, can be found on the FSIS Website at
www.fsis.usda.gov.
Simply type in “Lingual and Palatine Tonsils” within the search function and you’ll find
this very thorough presentation for further reference. Thanks for listening!
Outro:
Well, that’s all for this episode. We’d like your feedback on our podcast. Or if you
have ideas for future podcasts, send us an e-mail at
podcast@fsis.usda.gov. To learn more about food safety, try our web site at
www.fsis.usda.gov. Thanks for tuning
in.
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Last Modified: February 25, 2009 |
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