Meat+Poultry - December 2016 - 98

FROM THE CORRAL

Taking a
robust approach

98

MEAT+ POULTRY | 12.16 | www.meatpoultry.com

written plan and the second section would be your daily,
weekly, and monthly inspections of procedures, along with
corrective actions for problems.

SECTION 1: WRITTEN PLAN FOR ROBUST
SYSTEMATIC APPROACH
It is recommended that it should contain the following
items:
Mission statement of goals (USDA/FSIS access) -
Write out a few sentences about overall goals.
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for your
plant (FSIS/USDA access) - An SOP should be written for
the following areas using plain and simple language and
each SOP may be a few sentences or a short paragraph.
For example:
x Unloading trucks;
x Penning in stockyard (lairage);
x Animal driving practices and driving aid use;
x Handling and stunning non-ambulatory animals;
x Stunning - If you routinely shoot animals twice, state
the procedure here. Describe all stunning instruments
both the main stunners and stunners that are used in
the yards. Describe procedures to insure that all signs of
brain activity are absent before starting invasive dressing
procedures;
x Methods and location of people to determine that the
animal is unconscious and insensible;
x Emergency plan for storms, power failures and other
problems; What will you do if you have animals in route?
Where will you direct them?;
x Living document - When a plant improves a procedure,
there should be a record of it. To make this easier for small
plants, you could keep a folder of improvements. Some
examples might be rubber mat flooring in stun box, a new
procedure for handling non-ambulatory animals or an
additional gate. When a plant is completely remodeled or has
new construction, it is recommended to write new SOPs.
Risk Assessment (FSIS/USDA access) - In your
facility, outline possible problems that can occur in each
one of the above areas. Flow charts in the AVMA Humane
Slaughter Guidelines 2016 edition are useful. State specific
problems in your facility such as how you will prevent falls
when the animals go around a sharp corner. In a wet area
where cartridges can get wet, how will you keep them dry?
Only a few sentences are needed in each area.

Rosalie Winard

Many people have asked: "What exactly is a robust
systematic approach for humane slaughter?" Lucy
Anthenill, DVM, an inspector for the US Dept. of
Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS),
gave a presentation at the 2016 North American Meat
Institute's Animal Care and Handling Conference on the
items she looks for when assessing a plant for humane
compliance. There are two basic requirements: 1) a robust
systematic approach is similar to a
hazard analysis and critical control
point (HACCP) plan and; 2) the
FSIS should have access to the
records.
FSIS regulations and directives
do not specify the plan must be
written but Anthenill and most
plant managers would agree
that a written plan is definitely
preferred. Anthenill has visited
plants where nobody could
find the records for the robust
systematic approach. This shows
a lack of commitment and proves
the plan is definitely not robust.
"What exactly
People in the plant must actually
is a robust
be using the materials to make the
systematic
system robust. Each plant should
have its own customized system,
approach
which is written to follow the
for humane
actual procedures done in their
slaughter?"
plant. Copying wording verbatim
from the FSIS/USDA website is
not recommended. The website does contain much useful
information and it can be accessed by typing the following
title into Google, "FSIS Compliance Guide to a Systematic
Approach to Humane Handling of Livestock 2013." Other
useful sources of information are www.grandin.com and
the AVMA Humane Slaughter Guidelines 2016 edition.
Anthenill outlined the components that a robust
approach should have. I have put it into an outline that will
make it easier for people who are developing a program
for the first time. A robust systematic approach should
have two major components that can be kept in separate
binders for paper documents or separate sections of
an online document. The two sections are your overall
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