Meat&Poultry - June 2012 - 68

Breakthrough Disinfection

SAMPLING/TESTING

“After the 90 days, FSIS will survey beef establishments to find out what changes there have been to controls for E. coli throughout the industry. We’ll also begin routine food safety assessment activities,” he said.

their non-O157:H7 data and slaughter dressing, and operations controls, including their hide removal, and make sure there is no contamination in the animals’ digestive tracts, and no other visible contamination,” he said. “They should look at their operations, their support documentation for E. coli O157:H7, and their testing results. “For processors, since they’re buying trim to make ground beef, they can take the same steps the slaughter establishments are. Processors should look at their Letters of Guarantee and their Certificates of Analysis, making sure they reflect the new adulterants, as well as traditional O157:H7,” Engeljohn advised. He and Wells suggested processors communicate with their suppliers of raw materials for grinding, and eventually replace current letters and certificates with updated ones as they are made available by the suppliers.

How to prepare
Engeljohn explained the new testing program will not be limited to domes-

For these applications:
Meat brine chillers. Poultry chillers. Other poultry processing. RTE disinfecting rinses. Other process water.

tic beef production, but will also apply to imported products. He was also asked during the meeting what steps slaughter plants should take during the 90-day period until September to make sure their products don’t contain any of the additional six strains of E. coli. “If plants are not doing testing of the manufacturing trim themselves, then it might be prudent for them to look at their slaughter-dressing programs to make sure they are preventing contamination. They also might want to reexamine their E. coli O157:H7 control program to make sure it’s working OK,” Engeljohn said. “If there is no O157:H7, but they find any of the six new adulterants, then their plant program is not controlling them, and they have to correct that.” In the beginning, FSIS will not schedule “for-cause” food-safety assessments in plants if there is a positive sample found. Engeljohn said plants are not required or expected to reassess their HACCP plans immediately. But the agency will take action in the case of a positive, just as it would if it found a positive of E. coli O157:H7, including requiring follow-up sampling at the plant. The FSIS official was also asked how meat plants, both slaughter and processing, can prepare for the new testing. “For slaughterers, during the 90-day period, they need to look at

How we do it:
Our exclusive patented catalytic process. Powerful SuperOxidants™ generated from the process water itself.

Other bene ts:
Automated operation. No expensive chemicals to buy. No chemical dosing headaches. No restrictive chemical contracts. Compact installation. Exclusive real-time disinfection ef cacy estimate.

Testing plan
Dr. Emilio Esteban described the testing procedure meat inspectors and agency laboratories will use for the six additional E. coli pathogens. He said sampling and analysis will be the same as for E. coli O157:H7. “Potential positives will be identified by the second day,” Esteban said, “and by the third day, the analysis will be complete; we’ll fi nd either a presumptive positive or confi rm there’s no pathogen present.” He said if the sample of trim contains a pathogen, any of the six adulterants or E. coli O157:H7, it will be confirmed by the fourth day. ■
Bernard Shire is a contributing editor based in Lancaster, Pa. With a background in editing and writing for daily news publications, he also works as a food safety consultant and writer for Shire & Associates LLC. We would like to hear from you – to comment on his story or to request reprints, contact us by e-mail at meatpoultry@sosland.com.

To learn more, please contact:

Dave Wildes VP of Sales 608-838-0300 dwildes@bioionix.com

BioIonix, Inc.
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