Food safety publications
Gene Technology e-bulletin
These monthly e-bulletins provide MLA and it's stakeholders with an update about industry information, intelligence and issues management relating to gene technology developments in the meat and livestock industries in Australia and overseas.
Meat Technology Updates
The following Meat Technology Updates and Information Sheets cover food safety topics.
This update explains some of the importing country requirements, particularly for rendered products. Meat and bone meal is used for animal feed and is considered to be one step away from the human food chain. For this reason it tends to attract more attention from importing country regulators than other co-products such as hides and petfood, which are not expected to relate to the human food chain.
Studies undertaken over 25 years ago led to process guidelines for Australian exporters of vaccum-packeged beef to help them achieve storage lives of 10-12 weeks at 0°C. Since then, cumulative commercial evidence, supported by recent scientific studies, indicates that a rather longer shelf life- 20 weeks or more- is now regularly achieved. This paper provides information on the principle of vacuum-packaging, shelf life and consumer acceptance of meat, and suggests some reasons why the shelf-life extension has occurred.
The biggest potential for extending the storage life of fresh meats in vacuum-packs or MAP without oxygen. In vacuum packs, during storage, anaerobic of facultative anaerobic microorganisms multiply on the surface of the meat. In the majority of cases, a non-spoilage flora will develop; however, in some cases, the meat is spoiled due to the growth of psychrotrophic Clostridium species, LAB or Enterobacteriaceae. Non-spoilage LAB can out-compete other organisms, so it has been suggested that adding LAB to freah meat befor vacuum packaging could be used to extend shelf-life.
Increasing emphasis on meat hygiene assessment, including zero faeces and ingesta and on good processing procedures, means that an understanding of lighting is becoming more important.
The AQIS and Australian Standard regulations for construction give the minimum requirements for the meat industry. For areas where better than the minimum lighting requirement is desirable, a person suitably qualified in lighting should be consulted.
Thermometers and temperature loggers should be calibrated near the temperatures theya re intended to monitor. Thus, thermometers used in the meat industry should be calibrated at a cold temperature eg. 0°C and a hot temperature eg. about 70-90°C.
Abattoir operators are implementing good hygiene practices to minimise cross-contamination during slaughter and dressing, but if the incoming contamination on animal coats and in the intestines could be reduced, further reductions in the incidence of foodborne pathogens on fresh meat should be achievable.
Increasingly, meat processors are being asked to show that their claimed shelf-lives for products have been validated. This update discusses how the validation might be demonstrated.
This information sheet discusses methods for quantifying low levels of sulphur dioxide in met products, and suggests reasons, other than addition of sulphites, for the apparent presence of sulphur dioxide in meats to which sulphites have not been added.
Listeria monocytogenes is of concern to meat processors becasue it is a food-borne pathogen that can grow at refrigeration temperatures in some products; and survive for long periods of time in food-processing environments, including food-contact surfaces. While it does not compete well with spoilage bacteria that grow on fresh meats, ready-to-eat products (such as processed meats), have been associated with human cases of listeriosis because these products often have few other bacteria present, have a long refrigerated shelf life, and are generally consumed without cooking. This update outlines current research, regulatory testing and labelling requirements, and procedures for the control of, and testing for L. monocytogenes. It also discusses recent research and future research needs.
This newsletter focuses on the predictive microbiology approach for validating carcase chilling. It outlines how models can be useful in various steps of HACCP, and describes how they can be used to assess the likely effects of changes to chilling procedures. It also explains some recently completed work on the water activity at the surface of carcases during chilling and how this might affect the modelling of microbial growth.
This newsletter is designed to assist in the validation of the critical limits that relate to the microbiological status of meat during chilling.
E.coli are part of the normal intestinal flora of many animals, including humans. Most strains of E. coli have no detrimental effects on the animal host; however, some strains can cause serious human illness.
This information sheet outlines the factors that influence the storage life of vacuum-packed meat, and the types of bacteria that are able to grow and cause spoilage.
Radiation processing has been used for over forty years to sterilise medical devices such as syringes and gloves as well as cosmetic and pharmaceutical ingredients. One of the first food products to obatin irradiation approval was flour in the USA in 1963.
Date labelling is only required on pre-packed product at point of retail sale. Naked meat for retail sale through butcher shops does not requrie date labelling; however, retail butchers should have knowledge of the expected shelf-life of the product they sell. As customers become more accustomed to date labelling, they may be seeking this advice from the retail butcher.
Many decontamination technologies have been subjected to scientific trials over the years. This update discusses some of those which are used commercially here and in the US, including those recommended by FSIS. It does so by considering their effectiveness, reliability and likely cost to install and operate. Some other technologies that are showing promise in recent scientific investigations are also discussed.
If a heavy ammonia leak should occur, the meat or offal should be removed from the room as soon as possible. Ammonia is toxic if breathed, causes burns and is irritating to the eyes, skin and respiratory system. Precautions must be taken, including use of breathing apparatus and skin and eye protection, if it is necessary to enter an atmosphere that contains ammonia.
Ultraviolet (UV) light lamps are sometimes used in meat chillers. They differ physically from fluorescent lamps in that they do not contain phosphor and are constructed with a special type of glass to permit maximum emission of ultraviolet energy. The glass used in ordinary fluorescent lamps filters out much of the UV energy.
This pamphlet describes the approaches that can be taken for the microbiological testing of meat for E.coli 0157 and explains the terminology, the tests used and their interpretation.
Dangerous goods are srticles or substances, which are capable of posing a significant risk to health, safety or to property and must be packed in accordance with International Air Transport Association (IATA) regulations.
This newsletter explains some of the background to the use of microbiological testing to verify HACCP and highlights the relevance of indicator tests. The newsletter also discusses the special case of vacuum-packed meat and the tests that are useful in identifying problems with vacuum-packed meat.
The need to ensure meat is safe and wholesome and a lack of adequate scientific information mean that traditional inspection decisions have been conservative. In this article we discuss findings of recent Australian studies of offal processing and outline procedures for setting performance standards for monitoring, corrective action and verification procedures.
Microbial testing involves culturing organisms so that a few bacterial cells grow into many millions. If the test is a total plate count it is probable that most of the organisms being cultured are harmless, but there could be some pathogenic bacteria on a total plate count. There is a greater rick that pathogenic organisms may be present in large numbers on a coliform or E.coli plate.
Chemical Lean Measurement
The following Meat Industry Updates outline processes of determining the Chemical Lean, amount of total fat content, measurement of boxed meat. This measurement can be important for some markets.