Lessons Learned and Outcomes from Risk-Based Modernisation of Post-Mortem Inspection and Disposition Criteria of Beef, Sheep, Goat, and Pig Carcasses in Australia.

The lessons learned from reviewing national risk assessments to modernise the Australian Standard for the post-mortem inspection and disposition judgement of beef, sheep, goat, and pig carcases are discussed. The initial risk profiles identified priorities for quantitative assessments. Broadly, the main difficulty encountered was the paucity of quantified performance for the current inspection.

Microbiological Quality of Red Meat Offal Produced at Australian Export Establishments.

A national baseline study of offal hygiene was undertaken at 17 Australian export establishments. A total of 1756 samples of different offal types were analysed for aerobic plate count (APC), generic , and coliform bacteria. Average APC values varied from 1.

Semi-quantitative food safety risk profile of the Australian red meat industry.

In 2017-18, the Australian red meat (beef, sheep and goat species) industry generated more than $AUD 13 billion in export trade alone and is therefore of substantial importance to the Australian GDP. With both relatively high amounts of domestic red meat consumption and dependence on international markets, food safety risk is constantly reassessed so as to maintain a resilient industry sector. The current study aimed to conduct a food safety risk rating for the Australian red meat industry.

The role of meat in foodborne disease: Is there a coming revolution in risk assessment and management?

Meat has featured prominently as a source of foodborne disease and a public health concern. For about the past 20 years the risk management paradigm has dominated international thinking about food safety. Control through the supply chain is supported by risk management concepts, as the public health risk at the point of consumption becomes the accepted outcome based measure.

Low Prevalence of Salmonella and Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli in Lymph Nodes of Australian Beef Cattle.

Salmonella contamination of ground beef has been viewed as originating from the surface of carcasses. Recent studies have identified lymph nodes as a potential source of Salmonella contamination because these tissues play an active role in containment of pathogens in the live animal and because some lymph nodes are unavoidably present in manufacturing beef trimmings or primal cuts that may be incorporated into ground beef. A survey was conducted of the microbiological status of lymph nodes from Australian cattle at the time of slaughter to determine the prevalence of microbiological contamination.

Effect of Sampling Plans on the Risk of Escherichia coli O157 Illness.

Australia exports about 150,000 to 200,000 tons of manufacturing beef to the United States annually. Each lot is tested for Escherichia coli O157 using the N-60 sampling protocol, where 60 small pieces of surface meat from each lot of production are tested. A risk assessment of E.

Risk Assessment of Escherichia coli O157 illness from consumption of hamburgers in the United States made from Australian manufacturing beef.

We analyze the risk of contracting illness due to the consumption in the United States of hamburgers contaminated with enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) of serogroup O157 produced from manufacturing beef imported from Australia. We have used a novel approach for estimating risk by using the prevalence and concentration estimates of E. coli O157 in lots of beef that were withdrawn from the export chain following detection of the pathogen.

An Australian national survey of the microbiological quality of frozen boneless beef and beef primal cuts.

The fourth national baseline microbiological survey of Australian beef was conducted in 2011, including frozen boneless beef and, for the first time, samples from selected beef primal cuts. Cartons of frozen boneless beef (n = 1,165) sampled at 29 boning (fabrication) plants were found to have a mean total viable count of 2.2 log CFU/g, and the mean count for the 2.

Vacuum-packed beef primals with extremely long shelf life have unusual microbiological counts.

When vacuum-packed striploins and cube rolls processed by six Australian establishments were stored at 2 0.5°C to determine their shelf life, all product was acceptable organoleptically for at least 26 weeks. The aerobic plate counts and counts of lactic acid bacteria over the storage period did not accord with those established by previous studies, i.

Performance standards and meat safety--developments and direction.

Performance standards have been developed to express, for regulatory purposes, an acceptable level of food safety afforded by either a product or a process. These performance standards have reflected the development of scientific thought on food safety management through setting of microbiological criteria, implementing hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) systems, process control and risk-based management. In meat safety management, some performance standards reflect current risk-based thinking which sets objectives and/or criteria and allows freedom on how those objectives/criteria can be met.

Assumptions of acceptance sampling and the implications for lot contamination: Escherichia coli O157 in lots of Australian manufacturing beef.

The aims of this work were to determine the distribution and concentration of Escherichia coli O157 in lots of beef destined for grinding (manufacturing beef) that failed to meet Australian requirements for export, to use these data to better understand the performance of sampling plans based on the binomial distribution, and to consider alternative approaches for evaluating sampling plans. For each of five lots from which E. coli O157 had been detected, 900 samples from the external carcass surface were tested.

Validation of low-volume enrichment protocols for detection of Escherichia coli O157 in raw ground beef components, using commercial kits.

Testing of beef destined for use in ground beef products for the presence of Escherichia coli O157:H7 has become an important cornerstone of control and verification activities within many meat supply chains. Validation of the ability of methods to detect low levels of E. coli O157:H7 is critical to confidence in test systems.

A national survey of the microbiological quality of retail raw meats in Australia.

A national survey of the microbiology of meat (ground beef and diced lamb) at the retail level in Australia was undertaken. For ground beef samples (n = 360), the mean aerobic plate count (APC) was 5.79 log CFU/g, and Escherichia coli was detected in 17.

Effect of incubation temperature on aerobic plate counts of beef and sheep carcasses.

Australian regulations for microbiological testing of carcasses specify a number of incubation temperatures and media for meat processed at both domestic and export establishments. Accordingly, the effect of incubation temperature and media on aerobic plate counts of samples from beef and sheep carcasses was investigated. For both species, aerobic plate counts on Petrifilm incubated at 35 degrees C were significantly lower than those counts on Petrifilm and pour plates incubated at 25 and 30 degrees C, reflecting the inability of many psychrotrophs to grow at 35 degrees C.

An alternative process for cleaning knives used on meat slaughter floors.

Traditionally on slaughter floors operator knives are cleaned by rinsing in hand wash water at 20-40 degrees C followed by brief immersion in baths termed "sterilisers" which contain water no cooler than 82 degrees C. Under Australian legislation, both domestic and export, it is possible for a meat processing establishment to apply to the Controlling Authority for permission to implement an alternative procedure providing that it is at least the equivalent of that legislated. No firm evidence appears to exist for the 82 degrees C requirement and the possibility of replacing this element of the knife cleaning procedure with an alternative procedure using 60 degrees C water and a longer immersion time was investigated at an abattoir slaughtering cattle and sheep.

A national survey of the microbiological quality of beef carcasses and frozen boneless beef in Australia.

The third national baseline microbiological survey of Australian beef carcasses and frozen boneless beef was conducted in 2004. Carcasses (n=1155) sampled at 27 slaughter establishments had a mean aerobic plate count (at 25 degrees C) of 1.3 log CFU/cm2.

A risk microbiological profile of the Australian red meat industry: risk ratings of hazard-product pairings.

A risk profile of microbial hazards across the supply continuum for the beef, sheep and goat meat industries was developed using both a qualitative tool and a semi-quantitative, spreadsheet tool, Risk Ranger. The latter is useful for highlighting factors contributing to food safety risk and for ranking the risk of various product/pathogen combinations. In the present profile the qualitative tool was used as a preliminary screen for a wide range of hazard-product pairings while Risk Ranger was used to rank in order of population health risk pairings for which quantitative data were available and for assessing the effect of hypothetical scenarios.

Using national microbiological data to set meaningful performance criteria for slaughter and dressing of animals at Australian export abattoirs.

Slaughter establishments in Australia that export meat to the USA are required by the controlling authority, the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS), to test carcases under the Escherichia coli and Salmonella monitoring (ESAM) program and to use statistical process control techniques to ensure meat is produced hygienically. However, analysing the ESAM database for E. coli using standard statistical techniques proved difficult because of inter-plant variability and because the vast majority of results were below the limits of detection.