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Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
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Food Safety and Inspection
Service United States Department of Agriculture Washington, D.C. 20250-3700 |
Backgrounders
June 2000
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has embarked on a major initiative to more fully integrate microbiological testing into its food safety program for meat and poultry. The initiative is one of a series of improvements USDA is undertaking as part of its Pathogen Reduction Program for meat and poultry product.
The reduction of microbiological contamination in meat and poultry is a serious challenge facing USDA and the meat and poultry industry. Over the years, the Department has successfully controlled animal diseases, physical contamination, and chemical residues. However, the reduction of microbiological contamination remains a more elusive goal for a number of reasons. First, microbial pathogens are invisible to the naked eye and are difficult to detect quickly using current technology. Second, they can multiply after a meat or poultry product leaves the federally inspected plant, particularly if a product is mishandled during transportation, storage, or in the home. Third, efforts to reduce microbial pathogens must constantly adapt to emerging and evolving pathogens, new technology, and new research.
Food safety experts, including the National Academy of Sciences and the National Advisory Committee on Microbiological Criteria for Foods, agree that pathogen reduction requires a farm-to-table approach. Microbiological testing is designed to address improvements at the plant level, with the understanding that additional initiatives at other points in the food production chain also are needed. USDA already has begun a number of projects to address these other points, including safe handling instructions for consumers, identification and traceback of animals, and the development of on-farm pathogen prevention models.
FSIS established a series of baseline data collection programs to acquire information that provides general microbiological profiles of meat and poultry for selected microorganisms that are of various degrees of public health concern. The objective is to use this information and knowledge gained from the program as a reference for further investigations and evaluations of new prevention programs. Baseline studies are also used to develop pathogen reduction performance standards that plants must meet. The earlier baseline studies (steer/heifer, cow/bull, broiler chicken, market hog, and young turkey) and surveys (raw ground beef, raw ground chicken, and raw ground turkey) included the following microbial analyses: Escherichia coli; Clostridium perfringens; Staphylococcus aureus; Listeria monocytogenes; Campylobacter jejuni/coli; Escherichia coli O157:H7; and Salmonella. Subsequent baselines (cattle, swine, turkeys, geese) included the following microbial analyses: Salmonella and E. coli. The current baseline for young chickens includes the following microbial analyses: Campylobacter jejuni/coli, Salmonella, and generic E. coli.
Over time, baseline profiles for meat and poultry will provide a basis for measuring the effectiveness of changes in slaughtering and processing on microbial contamination of raw products.
On July 25, 1996, FSIS published its final rule on Pathogen Reduction and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point Systems (PR/HACCP), which established new requirements for all meat and poultry products to improve food safety. Under the rule, all slaughter and processing plants are required to adopt the system of process controls known as HACCP to prevent food safety hazards. In addition, slaughter plants are required to conduct microbial testing for generic E. coli to verify that their process control systems are working as intended to prevent fecal contamination, a primary avenue of contamination of raw product with harmful bacteria. FSIS also requires plants to adopt and follow written Sanitation Standard Operating Procedures (SSOPs) to reduce the likelihood that harmful bacteria will contaminate the finished product.
In addition, to verify that HACCP systems are effective in controlling contamination of raw product with harmful bacteria, the rule sets pathogen reduction performance standards for Salmonella that slaughter plants and plants that produce raw ground products must meet. FSIS verifies that plants are meeting the standards by taking sets of product samples and analyzing them for Salmonella in FSIS laboratories. Plants with too many Salmonella positive tests in a set have failed that set. A plant that fails three consecutive sets faces enforcement action.
The performance standards for Salmonella represent the first time USDA has set microbial standards for raw products on such a broad scale. Salmonella was selected as the target pathogen because it is one of the most common causes of foodborne illness, it is present at varying frequencies on all types of raw meat and poultry products, and it can easily be tested for in a variety of products.
Products currently covered by performance standards are carcasses of cattle, swine, and broilers; and ground beef, ground chicken, and ground turkey. The pathogen reduction performance standards are based on the prevalence of Salmonella before HACCP implementation, as determined from FSIS' nationwide microbial baseline surveys. FSIS intends to adjust the standards in the future as new data become available.
The results are being used to verify that HACCP systems are effective in controlling contamination with Salmonella. The presence of Salmonella positives above the standard is an indication that the plant's system for controlling contamination is not working, and the plant must take steps to correct the problem. FSIS is not using these test results to condemn products. Instead, the results are being used to verify that HACCP systems are effective in controlling contamination.
Progress reports indicate Salmonella prevalence in most meat and poultry products being reported is markedly lower after HACCP implementation than in baseline studies conducted before HACCP implementation. Detailed reports on data can be found on the FSIS Web Site at http://www.fsis.usda.gov/ophs/salmdata.htm. The vast majority of plants are complying with the Salmonella performance standards. The results are encouraging in light of the agency's goal to reduce, to the extent possible, pathogens that can cause foodborne illness. Two years of data from our Salmonella testing program show that the prevalence of Salmonella is decreasing on meat and poultry products, and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that we are making headway in reducing illnesses from a number of foodborne pathogens. In fact, the Healthy People 2000 objectives for Campylobacter, Salmonella, E. coli O157:H7, and Listeria monocytogenes have been met.
On January 27, 1997, all plants that slaughter and process meat and poultry were required to have in place standard operating procedures for sanitation to ensure they are meeting their responsibility to keep their facilities and equipment clean. In addition, slaughter plants were required to begin testing their products for generic E. coli to verify that their process control systems are working as intended to prevent fecal contamination, the primary avenue of contamination for harmful bacteria. Such testing helps establishments know how effective their slaughter and sanitary dressing procedures are at preventing and removing microbial contamination. Generic E. coli was selected by FSIS as the target organism because of the scientific consensus that it is a useful indicator of process control, because such analysis is relatively easy and inexpensive to perform, and because levels of the organism can be measured. Test results that indicate the presence of marginal or unacceptable levels of E. coli are an indication that he establishment needs to review process controls and take corrective actions.
Pathogens in ready-to-eat products are considered adulterants. FSIS began testing ready-to-eat products for Salmonella in 1983 and Listeria monocytogenes in 1987. The following product categories are included in the L. monocytogenes and Salmonella monitoring programs: (1) sliced ham and luncheon meat, (2) roast beef, cooked beef, and cooked corned beef, (3) small-diameter cooked sausage, (4) large-diameter cooked sausage, (5) cooked, uncured poultry, (6) salads and spreads, (7) dry and semi-dry fermented sausage, and (8) beef jerky.
Products targeted for L. monocytogenes and Salmonella testing by FSIS can be held voluntarily by the plant until results are available so that potentially contaminated products do not reach consumers. However, in the event that FSIS discovers a positive sample and the product was not held by the plant, FSIS requests that the plant initiate a product recall. In addition, when a positive sample is found, FSIS conducts follow-up testing of products produced by the plant.
In calendar year 1998, out of 3,547 samples of ready-to-eat products analyzed through this monitoring program, 90 samples--or approximately 2.5 percent--tested positive for L. monocytogenes. In calendar year 1998, out of approximately 3,468 monitoring samples of ready-to-eat products analyzed through the testing program 8 samples -- or approximately 0.23 percent -- tested positive for Salmonella.
FSIS monitoring samples are one method FSIS uses to verify compliance with our regulations.
E. coli O157:H7 can cause serious illness or death when consumed in contaminated foods. Because consumers may not cook meat thoroughly enough to kill pathogens that have been introduced below the surface, FSIS has declared that ground and other non-intact beef contaminated with E. coli O157:H7 is adulterated. FSIS advises consumers to use a thermometer and cook ground beef to an internal temperature of 160 degrees F.
In 1994, when FSIS declared E. coli O157:H7 an adulterant in ground beef the agency instituted a testing program for the pathogen. FSIS established the end-product sampling program for ground beef to keep contaminated product from reaching consumers and to spur industry to institute pathogen reduction and HACCP-associated verification programs to reduce the risk of this pathogen in beef products.
Currently FSIS collects approximately 8,000 product samples per year to test for E. coli O157:H7. Samples are collected in federal plants, retail establishments, state inspected plants, and FSIS import facilities. If a plant has a positive finding, FSIS inspection personnel conduct follow-up testing.
FSIS also collects E. coli O157:H7 samples from cooked, ready-to-eat meat patties and dry fermented sausage in federally inspected establishments. The procedure is the same as all other ready-to-eat monitoring programs.
In September 1999, FSIS instituted a more sensitive method for detection of E. coli O157:H7 in meat products. The method uses "immunomagnetic separation" (IMS), and is approximately four times more sensitive and increases the probability of detecting very low levels of E. coli O157:H7.
General inquiries:
For Further Information Contact:
FSIS Congressional and Public Affairs Staff
Phone: (202) 720-3897
Fax: (202) 720-5704