The old saying, "What you can’t see can’t hurt
you," is history when it comes
to meat and poultry inspection.
On July 6, President Bill Clinton announced sweeping reform
of federal food safety
rules. The changes modernize a 90-year-old U.S. Department
of Agriculture inspection
program that relied on sight, smell and feel.
"You can’t see microorganisms rolling down the
processing line on a bird,"
said Estes Reynolds, a food scientist with the University of
Georgia Extension Service.
"But you can test for them," he said. "We’re
dealing with controlling
contamination now instead of detecting a problem after it’s
there. With these ‘megaregs,’
we’re taking a scientific approach to documenting
control."
Most Georgia slaughter and processing firms are being trained
in the process. Many are
already forming plans to comply, Reynolds said.
"The new rules are getting a positive response from
industry," Reynolds said.
"Their only concern is the cost of the change."
USDA figures as many as 4,000 deaths and 5 million illnesses
a year result from eating
contaminated meat and poultry. The four most common culprits are
Salmonella,
Campylobacter, E. coli 0157:H7 and Listeria
monocytogenes.
USDA Secretary Dan Glickman said the old system had a key
gap.
"It did not focus on the most serious public health
problem of pathogenic bacteria
such as E. coli 0157:H7 and Salmonella," he said.
"The Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP)
Pathogen Reduction final
rule will do just that," he said. "It will improve the
safety of American meat
and poultry by directly targeting the reduction of the pathogens
that cause food-borne
illness. It will revolutionize the way we ensure the safety of
American meat and
poultry."
For the first time, plants that slaughter and process meat
and poultry will be required
to target and reduce harmful bacteria on their products. The
four-part rule builds
prevention into the process.
* Every plant must adopt and carry out its own HACCP plan
that deals with all the
hazards for its products. USDA inspectors will continually
verify the plan.
* Every slaughter plant must regularly test carcasses for
generic E. coli. The
testing will tell how well the plant’s methods prevent and
reduce fecal contamination.
* All slaughter plants and plants producing raw ground
products must make sure their
Salmonella contamination rate is below the national baseline
incidence.
* Each plant must adopt and use a written plan to meet its
sanitation responsibilities.
The new system will be phased in. It will start this summer
with the Salmonella testing
program. The sanitation standard operating procedures and E.
coli testing rules
will follow next year.
The HACCP system will be effected first in larger meat and
poultry plants. USDA figures
75 percent of all slaughter production will be under HACCP-based
process control and
Salmonella performance standards within 18 months.
The new rule just went into effect. But the concept of
controlling safety hazards has
been in the works for years. Reynolds has led HACCP trainings
for food processors
nationwide since 1990.
"Most of the major processors are already on
board," Reynolds said. "We
have educational material available and programs in place to
conduct training for all
processors."
Food processors can talk to their county Extension Service
agent about arranging a
HACCP training.
