Source: Michael Fielding, MEATINGPLACE, 6/18/14

The proposed rule on poultry slaughter may be the first thing that comes to mind when talk of “modernization” arises, but the push to modernize the industry encompasses much more, including the increasing use of science as a basis for policy making.
This, according to David Goldman, assistant administrator in the Office of Public Health Science at USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. In a session here at the American Meat Science Association’s Reciprocal Meat Conference, Goldman apprised attendees of updates to the agency’s compliance guidelines targeted at small and very small processors.

Not surprisingly, the top pathogen of concern remains salmonella – the most frequently reported foodborne illness. “We haven’t sustained a decrease in salmonellosis,” said Goldman who noted that the incidence of campylobacter has increased over the last decade as well.

Although the Centers for Disease Control’s 2013 Food Safety Progress Report showed a 9 percent decrease in salmonella infections in 2013 compared to the previous three years, it has barely budged over the last decade. Campylobacter infections — often linked to dairy products and chicken — have risen 13 percent since 2006-2008.

The data for the report card come from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet), a group of experts from CDC, ten state health departments, FSIS and the FDA.

In 2013, FoodNet logged just over 19,000 infections, 4,200 hospitalizations, and 80 deaths from the nine germs it tracks. Young children were the most affected group for seven of the nine germs that FoodNet tracks.

Since unveiling its Salmonella Action Plan in December 2013, FSIS has sought to prioritize modernizing the poultry slaughter inspection system. FSIS expects shifting inspectors to more offline, food safety duties should prevent at least an estimated 5,000 illnesses each year. “This plan is our best strategy to address salmonella in meat and poultry products,” Goldman said.
Other changes of note include:
*Changes are planned to salmonella verification for ground beef. On June 29, FSIS will begin testing ground beef and source material for STEC and salmonella. Additionally, the portion size for salmonella testing in ground beef will increased to 325 grams from 25 grams, “so we do expect that we’ll find more salmonella than in the past using that smaller portion size,” Goldman said, comparing the additional testing to that of salmonella and campylobacter in chicken and turkey.
*FSIS plans to create a sanitary dressing directive for hog slaughter establishments by the end of September. “We are going to develop a directive to personnel on how to verify compliance,” Goldman explained. “We hope to … pay more attention to hog slaughter and reduce contamination of pork product with salmonella.”
*A compliance guide on allergens published in April remains open for comment. The CDC says that four out of every 100 children has a food allergy and that there has been an 8 percent increase in reported food allergies from 1997 to 2007. Undeclared allergens accounted for one-third of all recalls in both 2012 and 2013, everything from new ingredients and new suppliers that reformulated ingredients to misprinted labels, products in the wrong package and product reformulation.

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