LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Large meat processing companies may be wielding a big stick to kill troublesome bacteria, but problems still occur in the best of plants.
“There are times we simply don’t do enough for food safety because we know that organisms are still getting through the system,” said John Ruby, head of technical services for JBS USA’s beef division.
Steps are taken from the time the animals reach the plant until they go into the cooler, yet pathogens such as campylobacter, salmonella, E. coli and listeria continue to show up in pork, poultry and beef.
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Lingering E. coli O157:H7 contamination at XL Foods in Brooks, Alta., was an example of what can go wrong. Canada’s largest food recall ensued and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency closed the plant last fall.
JBS started operating the plant Oct. 29 and bought it Jan. 14.
“We were able to clean up a lot of things and implemented new processes,” Ruby said at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture meeting held in Louisville April 15-18.
“That was a very difficult situation,” he said.
Meat processing plants share information about the newest ways to control potential problems because no one owns food safety, said Ruby.
U.S. Department of Agriculture guidelines issued by its Food Safety Inspection Service recommend that packing plants accept products from producers who have documented management practices to reduce fecal shedding of E. coli O157.
The FSIS also says the reduction of salmonella and campylobacter in poultry needs to start at the farm.
Ruby questioned how producers might do that and how much it might cost.
“I can’t disagree with them,” he said. “However, the challenge is what should that be?”
He said food safety is everyone’s responsibility, but packers are often expected to do the lion’s share of the treatment at considerable cost.
“A comprehensive food safety system is not going to be free,” Ruby said.
“Food safety is something that is important enough that we need to start investing some time and some dollars into it.”
Some beef plants have tried cleaning muddy hides to prevent spattering of manure on carcasses.
They have also sprayed animals with bacteriophages, which are viruses that attack specific bacteria.
However, the product is difficult to apply to live animals because it does not spread evenly. It also has an activation time of 45 to 60 minutes, and it is not feasible to use a cold spray on animals in winter.
“We have not found a real great way to treat the hide yet,” he said.
Washes containing acetic acid and/or chlorine as well as powerful chilling systems are used once the hide is removed.
Some plants use a hot water spray of 1,200 gallons per minute at 100 C for more than 10 seconds to heat the outside of the carcass to 80 C.
However, these washes have side effects.
“The challenge there becomes, if it is effective enough to kill bugs, it is going to eat up your plant so we need to find ways to get as much kill as possible without destroying all the concrete in our facilities,” he said.
Cameras are located throughout JBS plants, and supervisors randomly watch the videos to see what is done wrong.
Employees are re-trained if they did not know what to do or made a mistake.
