Haccp in the Meat Industry

M. Brown

• Publisher: Woodhead Publishing
• Year: 2000
• Print ISBN: 9781855734487
• eBook ISBN: 9781855736443
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Food Science
• Index: Technology & Engineering

The recent outbreaks of E.coli and BSE have ensured that the issue of meat safety has never had such a high profile. Meanwhile HACCP has become the preferred tool for the management of microbiological safety. Against a background of consumer and regulatory pressure, the effective implementation of HACCP systems is critical. Written by leading experts in the field, HACCP in the meat industry provides an authoritative guide to making HACCP systems work effectively.This book examines the HACCP in the meat industry across the supply chain, from rearing through to primary and secondary processing.

Part 1

General issues

1

Introduction

T.H. Pennington University of Aberdeen

Even in a new millennium we can be certain that myths will continue to play an important role in people’s lives. A longstanding and pervasive one is that the only general spin-off from space travel and rocket science has been the non-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 centred on abutchery business.¹ Like the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box hamburger chain outbreak in the United States,² it had a profound impact on politicians as well as public opinion. While it gave red meat – yet again – a negative role as a vector of disease, it also created a window of opportunity for driving forwards improvements in food safety. Early in the outbreak I was asked by the Secretary 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, guidance and practices that, in coming to our views, public health considerations should be regarded as paramount in the handling of potential and actual outbreaks of food poisoning. We were persuaded of the overriding need to tackle 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 justified with reference to the circumstances of the outbreaks examined, we also 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 ‘public health’ approach concerns itself primarily with prevention. So does 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. We sought to identify the critical points in the process of food production ‘from farm to fork’ at which, based on our examination of the circumstances of recent outbreaks, there seems to be most risk of contamination.

It was brought home to us early in our investigation of the Central Scotland outbreak that the successful introduction and implementation of HACCP is not a trivial undertaking. A prerequisite for these is an understanding by management 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 schedule for its equipment or premises, no temperature monitoring of cookers or refrigerators, and neither soap nor drying facilities at the inadequate number of wash hand basins. There were, on the other hand, more than 30 points 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 maintain a safe shop and the main ingredient of his failure was ignorance of the requirements which would produce that result.’

1.1 E.coli O157

As a test for food safety systems E.coli O157 is unparalleled. This is because of its propensity to be transmitted to people at any point in the food chain, because of other properties like its ability to survive well in hostile environments and its 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. It cannot be bettered as a focal point on which to centre considerations of HACCP. So it is worth considering the biology and natural history of the organism in some detail.

E.coli O157 exists in a wide range of animals (wild, farmyard and domestic) 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 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. (Most of the 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, cheese and apple juice. In the very large Japanese outbreak, radishes were 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 not taken, there can also be cross-contamination between raw meat carrying the organism and cooked or ready to eat foods. E.coli O157 appears to be relatively tolerant to acidic conditions (compared, for example, to Salmonella).

Human infection may occur as a result of direct contact with animals carrying the organism, from contamination from their faeces, or through consumption of contaminated food or water. It may also spread directly from person to person as 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 centres or 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). The role of asymptomatic food handlers in outbreaks is unclear but may 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 available for infection or to prevent complications. These include 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 and associated HUS is the most common cause of acute renal failure in children in the UK. Morbidity for the vulnerable groups is particularly high compared to 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 illness in animals other than, at worst, transient diarrhoea in very young animals. There is, therefore, no reason for farmers to seek to identify the presence of the organism in their animals.

The very few organisms that are required to cause harm in humans can, under present rules and practices, easily escape detection and pass along the food chain, whether from animal faeces, carcasses, meat, equipment or humans. E.coli O157 has been difficult to identify in foods and, although techniques have improved over the years, rates of detection are still unsatisfactory. This is due in part to the low levels of the organism which appear to occur in food. The most sensitive techniques for identifying the organism (particularly, but not only, in food) are complex and sophisticated, requiring specialised equipment and expertise that is not generally available.

1.2 HACCP and food safety

Clearly, all these things make E.coli O157 a formidable challenge. No single immediately and universally applicable technical fix is available to eliminate it from the food chain. Eradication from its ruminant hosts is not a practical proposition at the present time. This is why my expert group spent a lot of time considering the HACCP system. This was not just because it is the overarching system which governs the UK’s (and indeed the emerging global) approach to tackling food safety issues, but because of its applicability at many parts of the food chain. This derives from its nature – a structured approach to analysing the potential hazards in an operation; identifying the points in the operation where the hazards may occur; and deciding which points are critical to control to ensure consumer safety. These critical control points are then monitored and remedial action, specified in advance, is taken if conditions at any point are not within safe limits. Thus HACCP is both a philosophy and a practical approach to food safety.

European Union (EU) food law places the responsibility for ensuring the safety and protection of the consumer very firmly with individual food businesses. HACCP-based principles, some of which are enshrined in much of this law, provide the tool for food businesses to address this responsibility, and these principles are backed up in law by prescriptive requirements and provisions requiring enforcement. The advantages of the HACCP approach are now internationally recognised, through the Codex Alimentarius Commission, where it is agreed that HACCP is based on seven principles:

1. Conduct a hazard analysis. Identify the potential hazards associated with food production at all stages up to the point of consumption, assess the like...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright page
• Preface
• Contributors
• Part 1: General issues
• Part 2: HACCP on the farm and in primary processing
• Part 3: HACCP tools
• Index