HACCP in the Meat Industry

323 Pages·2000·2.627 MB·English

by  M. Brown (Eds.)

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HACCP in the meat
industry
Edited by
Martyn Brown
Published byWoodhead Publishing Limited
Abington Hall, Abington
Cambridge CB1 6AH
England
www.woodhead-publishing.com
Published in Northand SouthAmerica byCRCPressLLC
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First published 2000,Woodhead Publishing Limited and CRCPressLLC
(cid:1) 2000, Woodhead Publishing Limited
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Preface
Over the past ten years or so, HACCP has become the preferred tool for the
management of microbiological food safety. As its use has spread and reliance
onitasthemainmeansofensuringthesafeproductionoffoodhasincreased,so
the need forchecking itseffectivenesshasalsoincreased. Thissameperiod has
also seen dramatic changes in the processing, storage and distribution of meat
products; and new pathogens, e.g. E. coli O157, have challenged both existing
supply chain controls and also consumer and regulatory views of safety
requirements. Extensive reliance on the use of HACCP for managing
microbiological safety has also been questioned and it is hoped that this book
will show that HACCP is the most powerful management tool available for
ensuring product safety. In this context it is important to remember that the
retrospective nature of microbiological testing makes it unsuitable for
supporting day-to-day decisions on product release, or for monitoring CCPs,
as products are likely to be out of the control of the producer by the time the
resultsoftestingareavailable.Thereforethe‘realtime’controlavailablefroma
well designed and implemented HACCP plan offers manufacturers and
consumers of meat products the best protection. However microbiological
testinginaplantwithaHACCP-basedQAsystemstillhasaroletovalidateand
verify the effectiveness of the process control and hygiene measures in place.
The purpose of this book is to present chapters written by experts on
particularaspectsofHACCPinthemeat industry.Thestructure shouldprovide
the reader with chapters that taken singly give a clear account of one aspect or
coveronetypeofmaterial.Takentogethertheypresentapracticalandcoherent
guidetoHACCPfortheindustry.Thechaptersaredividedinto‘GeneralIssues’
giving the current (1999) expert view and the legislative context of HACCP in
Europe and the UnitedStates. ‘HACCPon the farm and in primaryprocessing’
xii Preface
sets out issues related to product and raw material groups and provides an
outline of considerations specific to farm production, red and poultry meat.
‘HACCP tools’, the last chapters, provide a guide to the tools and information
available for developing, implementing and managing HACCP-based QA
systems.
Itisimportanttoappreciatethateachchapterrepresentscurrentthinkingand
currenttechniques;thechallengesaddressedandthestickingpointsmaychange
astheindustrydevelops,newpathogensemergeorasknowledgeandfamiliarity
withthetechniquesimproves.ImplementedandvalidatedHACCPplansprovide
the meat industry with the best tool to manage food safety reliably and
demonstrate how the quality of its raw materials, its standards of hygiene and
processcontrol lead to safe, high quality products.Its importance formanaging
foodsafetyandensuringfreetradeisreflectedbysupportforHACCPintheSPS
parts of the GATT agreement. Familiarity with the principles will help those
actively involved in HACCP study teams produce reliable, soundly based
actions and requirements. Similarly, less detailed knowledge will help any
manufacturerorenforcementofficer,notactivelyinvolvedwithHACCP,decide
whether the QA principles and practices proposed are effective and later if the
HACCPplanisscientificallyvalidandworking.Usingthe‘primaryprocessing’
chapterstheyshouldbeabletodecideontherelevanceofpathogensortoxinsto
their raw materials or products, or the likelihood of faulty manufacturing
practices or controls prejudicing product safety.
I would like to thank the chapter authors for their co-operation in the
preparationoftheircontributionsandmycolleaguesatColworthHousefortheir
help and advice.
Martyn Brown
Contributors
Chapter 1 Chapter 3
Professor T. H. Pennington Professor Lester Crawford
University of Aberdeen Center for Food and Nutrition Policy
Department of Medical Microbiology Georgetown University
Medical School Buildings 3240 Prospect Street NW
Foresterhill Washington DC 2007-2197
Aberdeen AB25 2ZD USA
Tel: [phone] Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone] Ext 52867 Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected]
Chapter 2 Chapter 4
Mr Michael Fogden Professor A. M. Johnston
3 Kipling Drive Royal Veterinary College
Towcester University of London
Northamptonshire NN12 6QY DepartmentofFarmAnimal&Equine
Medicine & Surgery
Answerphone: [phone]
Boltons Park
Fax: [phone]
Hawkshead Road
E-mail: [email protected]
N Mymms
Herts AL9 7TA
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
xiv Contributors
Chapter 5 Chapter 9
Dr Colin Gill Dr James Sheridan
Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada Food Safety Department
Lacombe Research Centre TEAGASC
6000 C & E Trail National Food Centre
Lacombe Dunsinea
Alberta T4L 1W1 Castleknock
Canada Dublin 15
Ireland
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone] Tel: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected] Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
Chapter 6
Chapter 11
Professor G. C. Mead
Royal Veterinary College Dr Neil Khandke
University of London Ice Cream Technology Unit
Boltons Park Unilever Research
Hawkshead Road Colworth House
Potters Bar Sharnbrook
Herts EN6 1NB Bedford MK44 1LQ
Fax: [phone]
Chapter 7
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr P. J. McClure
Unilever Research Chapter 12
Colworth House
Professor J.-L. Jouve
Sharnbrook
EcoleNationaleVeterinairedeNantes
Bedford MK44 1LQ
Atlanpole-La Chanterie
Tel: [phone] BP 40706
Fax: [phone] 44307 Nantes Cedex 03
E-mail: [email protected] France
Chapters 8 and 10
Professor Martyn Brown
Unilever
Microbiology Department
UnileverResearchColworthLaboratory
Colworth House
Sharnbrook
Bedford MK44 1LQ
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
E-mail: [email protected]
1
Introduction
T. H. Pennington, University of Aberdeen
Eveninanewmillenniumwecanbecertainthatmythswillcontinuetoplayan
important role in people’s lives. A longstanding and pervasive one is that the
onlygeneralspin-offfromspacetravelandrocketsciencehasbeenthenon-stick
frying pan. Far more important, of course, was the development of HACCP by
NASA, Pillsbury and others. What a debt we owe to those who addressed the
need to protect space missions from food poisoning and the appalling prospect
of diarrhoea in zero gravity!
As a medical microbiologist specialising in the molecular typing of human
pathogens my involvement with HACCP was, until recently, remote and
indirect. This changed suddenly and dramatically at the end of 1996, when
Central Scotland suffered one of the largest outbreaks of E.coli O157 food
poisoning ever recorded with more than 500 cases and 21 associated deaths. It
centredonabutcherybusiness.1Likethe1993Jack-in-the-Boxhamburgerchain
outbreakintheUnitedStates,2ithadaprofoundimpactonpoliticiansaswellas
public opinion. While it gave red meat –yet again –a negative role asa vector
of disease, it also created a window of opportunity for driving forwards
improvementsinfoodsafety.EarlyintheoutbreakIwasaskedbytheSecretary
of State for Scotland to chair an Expert group ‘to report on the circumstances
leading to the outbreak, the implications for food safety, and the lessons to be
learned.’
In the deliberations which led to our final report3 we tried to identify
measures which would help to reduce the incidence of future infections with
E.coli O157 and, in particular, outbreaks of the scale involved in Central
Scotland. We were also determined, in considering food safety legislation,
guidanceandpracticesthat,incomingtoourviews,publichealthconsiderations
should be regarded as paramount in the handling of potential and actual
4 HACCP in the meat industry
outbreaksoffoodpoisoning.Wewerepersuadedoftheoverridingneedtotackle
the dangers which E.coli O157 presents and to reinforce public health
considerations in the area of food safety. This overarching principle guided
our work. Moreover, while we believed that the measures proposed were
justifiedwithreferencetothecircumstancesoftheoutbreaksexamined,wealso
acknowledged the influence of more general concerns about the growing
incidence of food poisoning cases, and their economic and social costs, in
supporting the precautionary and preventive approach adopted.
A‘publichealth’approachconcernsitselfprimarilywithprevention.Sodoes
HACCP, with both its philosophy and its practice centring on critical control
points. This is why the principles of HACCP were central to our deliberations.
Wesoughttoidentifythecriticalpointsintheprocessoffoodproduction‘from
farmtofork’atwhich,basedonourexaminationofthecircumstances ofrecent
outbreaks, there seems to be most risk of contamination.
It was brought home to us early in our investigation of the Central Scotland
outbreakthatthesuccessfulintroductionandimplementationofHACCPisnota
trivialundertaking.Aprerequisitefortheseisanunderstandingbymanagement
and workforce of the hazards and risks that underpin Good Hygiene practice,
and the effective operation of the latter. All these things were lacking in John
Barr’s, the butchery business that was the source of the outbreak. Thus at the
time of the outbreak there was no training programme for its staff, no cleaning
scheduleforitsequipmentorpremises,notemperaturemonitoringofcookersor
refrigerators, and neither soap nor drying facilities at the inadequate number of
washhand basins.There were, onthe other hand, more than 30points at which
there was a high risk of cross-contamination. The sheriff principal who
conducted the Fatal Accident Inquiry into the 21 deaths associated with the
outbreak summarised the problem succinctly: ‘I have no doubt Mr John Barr
liked a clean shop and maintained a clean shop. What he failed to do was to
maintainasafeshopandthemainingredientofhisfailurewasignoranceofthe
requirements which would produce that result.’
1.1 E.coli O157
AsatestforfoodsafetysystemsE.coliO157isunparalleled. Thisisbecauseof
itspropensitytobetransmittedtopeopleatanypointinthefoodchain,because
ofotherpropertieslikeitsabilitytosurvivewellinhostileenvironmentsandits
low infectious dose, and because of its nastiness as a pathogen. These things
make it an important public health problem and a serious challenge to the meat
industry.Itcannotbebetteredasafocalpointonwhichtocentreconsiderations
of HACCP. So it is worth considering the biology and natural history of the
organism in some detail.
E.coliO157existsinawiderangeofanimals (wild,farmyard anddomestic)
and even birds. It is generally accepted that its main reservoir is in the rumens
and intestines of cattle and, possibly, sheep. The organism can be excreted and
Introduction 5
may therefore exist in animal manure or slurry, which could be a source of
environmental or water contamination, or direct contamination of food such as
vegetables.(Mostofthe evidence for this is,however,circumstantial.)It seems
likely that there can be animal to animal infection/reinfection. There is good
evidence that it is transferred to animal carcasses through contamination from
faecal matter during the slaughter process. Many early outbreaks were
associated with the consumption of hamburgers. There have also been
documented cases attributed to meat, meat products and other foods such as
milk,cheeseandapplejuice.IntheverylargeJapaneseoutbreak,radisheswere
identified as a possible source of the infection. The vehicle for most cases of
infection, however, remains unknown. The organism survives well in frozen
storage and freezing cannot be relied upon to kill it. It is killed by heating but
can survive if food is not properly cooked. If appropriate hygiene measures are
nottaken, therecanalsobecross-contamination betweenrawmeat carryingthe
organismandcookedorreadytoeatfoods.E.coliO157appearstoberelatively
tolerant to acidic conditions (compared, for example, to Salmonella).
Humaninfectionmayoccurasaresultofdirectcontactwithanimalscarrying
the organism, fromcontaminationfromtheir faeces, orthrough consumptionof
contaminatedfoodorwater.Itmayalsospreaddirectlyfrompersontopersonas
a result of poor hygiene practices which allow faecal–oral spread. The latter is,
obviously, a particular potential problem in institutions such as nursing homes,
day-care centresor hospitals and in places where pre-school children meet, and
underlines the need for good personal hygiene and meticulous attention to
procedures designed to prevent cross-infection. Cases may be related to
outbreaks or may be sporadic (i.e. isolated and apparently unrelated to other
cases).Theroleofasymptomatic foodhandlersinoutbreaksisunclear butmay
be important in light of the low infectious dose.
Infection with E.coli O157 is potentially very serious for vulnerable groups,
particularly the elderly and the very young. There is no specific treatment
availableforinfection ortoprevent complications.Theseinclude haemorrhagic
colitis (bloody diarrhoea), the haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and
thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura (TTP). The latter two complications
are much less common but can be very serious, causing kidney and other
problems and, in the most severe cases, even death. Infection with E.coli O157
andassociatedHUSisthemostcommoncauseofacuterenalfailureinchildren
intheUK.Morbidityforthevulnerable groupsisparticularlyhighcomparedto
other forms of foodborne illness.
Despite improvements in surveillance and testing techniques, the organism
remains more difficult to detect and identify accurately than most other
important foodborne bacterial pathogens. E.coli O157 does not generally cause
illnessinanimalsotherthan,atworst,transientdiarrhoeainveryyounganimals.
There is,therefore,noreason forfarmers toseektoidentifythe presence ofthe
organism in their animals.
Theveryfeworganismsthatarerequiredtocauseharminhumanscan,under
present rules and practices, easily escape detection and pass along the food