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While meat and poultry slaughterers and processors are always looking for ways to make their plants and products safe, they must embrace at least two approaches to accomplish these goals. They must take steps to prevent pathogens in the products they produce. In addition, and just as important, they must determine if there are pathogens already present in their plants. Without these two actions, it will be hard for them to achieve the success which is so critical to their businesses. Laboratory companies and other scientific suppliers help meat and poultry companies meet these goals. Auditing safety controls in plants and testing to see if pathogens or other hazards make it through plant operations are two major steps in the process. “Auditing takes place to ensure compliance – that you’re meeting the rules and regulations associated with food safety and food quality,” said John David, global scientific marketing manager at 3M Food Safety. “Depending on who does the inspections, it could be the U.S.D.A., F.D.A. or third-party certification systems.” Making sure the raw materials that go into meat and poultry processing are safe is also important. “Manufacturers do this by ensuring what comes from suppliers is good – so they make sure their raw supplies will be without pathogens as they are made into products,” said Raj Rajagopal, senior global technical service specialist at 3M Food Safety. Birko Corp. emphasizes the “seek and destroy” mission in plants – how environmental monitoring programs can play a critical role in keeping meat and poultry plants and the products produced there safe, especially ready-to-eat (R.-T.-E.) products. “How can you be confident your plant is properly mitigating contamination risks, such as Listeria and other bacterial concerns on a continual basis?” said Elis Owens, director of technical services at Birko. “How do you know for certain that your facility’s food safety plan is effective?

That’s where the crucial step of implementing an environmental monitoring program comes in.” He emphasized that monitoring is critical for R.-T.-E. products – such as lunch meat and jerky – from the processing stage to consumers’ plates. An environmental monitoring program is a form of plant auditing, and it proves or disproves many things about a company’s food safety program. “For example, if the sanitation program is working, it can eliminate microbes from processing areas,” Mr. Owens said. “It can remove niches or harborage areas where the pathogen Listeria monocytogenes has come from, or where it’s hiding out. “Not only are these programs a best practice, but ongoing environmental monitoring is a requirement of the F.D.A.’s Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). It’s of particular importance to R.-T.-E. processors, because there is not an additional kill step before it [R.-T.-E. meat] gets to consumers.” Mr. Owens pointed out that Environmental Monitoring Programs (E.M.P.s) are a good way for establishments to keep process control. “Management should be asking questions like, ‘Do I have my processes and hazards under control in my plant?’ This is a way to help them do that,” he said. Mr. David noted that samples are taken by processing facilities and the government. “The U.S.D.A. will take product samples and surface swabs from the food processing environment,” he said. “Both are needed to have a complete, holistic approach to food safety.” Mr. Rajagopal added, “You can then find sites where contamination is taking place. If there is ineffective cleaning, sanitation and sanitary design, pathogens can remain for a long time.” They’ve found Listeria surviving up to 10 years. 3M Food Safety and Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences recently teamed up and designed a resource, “The Environmental Monitoring Handbook for the Food and Beverage Industries,” which helps processors build and implement environmental monitoring programs. – Source: Food Business News.vvvvvvv

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