Procedure for microbiological baseline surveys conducted by US Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service

Abstract Analytical methods for pentachlorophenol (PCP) residues In edible animal tissue have been reviewed, with particular reference to gas chromatographic methods of analysis. Results of analyses demonstrate that significant residues of PCP can persist for several weeks In animals exposed to contaminated bedding. National surveys In Canada have found that the incidence of PCP residues In pork in excess of 0.1 ppm was reduced from 32% of survey samples In 1981- 1982 to 6.6% of samples tested In 1987-1988. An Interlaboratory sample exchange among Canadian laboratories demonstrated that the PCP analytical method currently used by Agriculture Canada could be successfully transferred to other laboratories. An exchange of samples between regulatory laboratories of Agriculture Canada and the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) demonstrated equivalency of results for the 2 methods currently used in the respective laboratories, with relative standard deviations for analytical results ranging from 4.4 to 22.2%.

Download Full-text

Investigating the Suitability of Semicarbazide as an Indicator of Preharvest Nitrofurazone Use in Raw Chicken

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/jfp-20-090 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 83 (8) ◽

pp. 1368-1373

Author(s):

JOHN JOHNSTON ◽

RANDOLPH DUVERNA ◽

MICHAEL WILLIAMS ◽

RITA KISHORE ◽

CATALINA YEE ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Study Design ◽

Contact Time ◽

Frozen Storage ◽

Trading Partner ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Antimicrobial Interventions ◽

Inspection Service ◽

Processing Steps ◽

The U.S

ABSTRACT Semicarbazide (SEM) is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's official marker for nitrofurazone use in food animals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service conducted a study to evaluate the source of SEM that was identified by a U.S. trading partner in a subset of chicken samples presented for inspection, even though nitrofurazone has been banned from use in U.S. food-producing animals since 2002. The study design included analyses to detect and quantify total and bound SEM in chicken collected from the eight U.S. establishments that were associated with the reported detection of SEM. Samples were collected immediately following evisceration, chilling, and cutting carcass into parts (cut-up). Although antimicrobial interventions (processes to reduce pathogen concentrations) are typically used at all three of these processing steps, the product contact time during chilling is significantly longer (hours versus seconds) than during evisceration and cut-up. In addition, parts were analyzed after 0, 10, 20, and 30 days of frozen storage. No postevisceration samples tested positive for SEM; however, most samples collected postchilling and after cut-up tested positive. The absence of SEM in postevisceration samples and detection in the subsequent postchilling samples and after the cut-up samples suggest that the detection of SEM in the sampled products is not indicative of preharvest nitrofurazone use and may be a result of postharvest processing in these establishments. HIGHLIGHTS

Download Full-text

Health hazard evaluation report: HETA-2004-0337-3051, US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service, Natchitoches, Louisiana.

10.26616/nioshheta200403373051 ◽

2007 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Health Hazard ◽

Hazard Evaluation ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Evaluation Report ◽

Inspection Service

Download Full-text

Evaluation of a Chromogenic Medium for Identification and Differentiation of Listeria monocytogenes in Selected Foods

Journal of AOAC International ◽

10.1093/jaoac/88.2.511 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 88 (2) ◽

pp. 511-517 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Wendy F Lauer ◽

Jean-Pierre Facon ◽

Asmita Patel

Keyword(s):

Listeria Monocytogenes ◽

Food Safety ◽

Color Change ◽

The United States ◽

Culture Methods ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Chromogenic Medium ◽

Cultural Methods ◽

Standard Culture ◽

Inspection Service

Abstract Listeria monocytogenes continues to be a threat to food safety in the United States despite a “zero tolerance” policy. When Listeria species are identified by standard cultural methods, confirmation of L. monocytogenes takes days to complete. RAPID'L.Mono™ agar, developed by Bio-Rad Laboratories, is a chromogenic medium that differentiates L. monocytogenes from other species of Listeria by a simple color change reaction. Differentiation is based on the specific detection of phosphatidylinositol phospholipase C activity, resulting in a blue colony, and the inability of L. monocytogenes to metabolize xylose, resulting in the absence of a yellow halo. Detection principles of standard method agars, Oxford and PALCAM, are based on the ability of all species of Listeria to hydrolyze esculin. Thus, all species of Listeria have similar colony morphology on these agars, making differentiation of pathogenic L. monocytogenes from other nonhuman pathogens difficult. RAPID'L.Mono agar has been validated with surimi, mixed salad, brie, and processed deli turkey because of the prevalence of L. monocytogenes in these foods. Sensitivity and specificity for this medium was determined to be 99.4 and 100%, respectively. Overall method agreement of RAPID'L.Mono with standard culture methods (U.S. Department of Agriculture/Food Safety and Inspection Service; U.S. Food and Drug Administration/Bacteriological Analytical Manual; and AOAC INTERNATIONAL) was excellent, with enrichment protocols 24 h shorter than those of standard methods.

Download Full-text

Twenty-Two Years of U.S. Meat and Poultry Product Recalls: Implications for Food Safety and Food Waste

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x.jfp-16-388 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 80 (4) ◽

pp. 674-684 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Acton Gorton ◽

Matthew J. Stasiewicz

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Food Waste ◽

Class I ◽

Poultry Production ◽

Product Recalls ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Evaluation Period ◽

Time Period ◽

Regular Increase ◽

Inspection Service

ABSTRACT The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service maintains a recall case archive of meat and poultry product recalls from 1994 to the present. In this study, we collected all recall records from 1994 to 2015 and extracted the recall date, meat or poultry species implicated, reason for recall, recall class, and pounds of product recalled and recovered. Of a total of 1,515 records analyzed, the top three reasons for recall were contamination with Listeria, undeclared allergens, and Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli. Class I recalls (due to a hazard with a reasonable probability of causing adverse health consequences or death) represented 71% (1,075 of 1,515) of the total recalls. The amounts of product recalled and recovered per event were approximately lognormally distributed. The mean amount of product recalled and recovered was 6,800 and 1,000 lb (3,087 and 454 kg), respectively (standard deviation, 1.23 and 1.56 log lb, respectively). The total amount of product recalled in the 22-year evaluation period was 690 million lb (313 million kg), and the largest single recall involved 140 million lb (64 million kg) (21% of the total). In every data category subset, the largest recall represented >10% of the total product recalled in the set. The amount of product recovered was known for only 944 recalls. In 12% of those recalls (110 of 944), no product was recovered. In the remaining recalls, the median recovery was 29% of the product. The number of recalls per year was 24 to 150. Recall counts and amounts of product recalled over the 22-year evaluation period did not regularly increase by year, in contrast to the regular increase in U.S. meat and poultry production over the same time period. Overall, these data suggest that (i) meat and poultry recalls were heavily skewed toward class I recalls, suggesting recalls were focused on improving food safety, (ii) numbers of products and amounts of each product recalled were highly variable but did not increase over time, and (iii) the direct contribution of recalls to the food waste stream was associated with the largest recalls.

Download Full-text

New food safety initiatives in the Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Journal of Animal Science ◽

10.2527/1990.683863x ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 68 (3) ◽

pp. 863 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M A Norcross ◽

A R Post

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Inspection Service

Download Full-text

Molecular and Phenotypic Characterization of Listeria monocytogenes from U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service Surveillance of Ready-to-Eat Foods and Processing Facilities†

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-73.5.861 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 73 (5) ◽

pp. 861-869 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

TODD J. WARD ◽

PETER EVANS ◽

MARTIN WIEDMANN ◽

THOMAS USGAARD ◽

SHERRY E. ROOF ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Listeria Monocytogenes ◽

Food Safety ◽

Virulence Gene ◽

Phenotypic Characterization ◽

Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Poultry Products ◽

Production Environments ◽

Inspection Service

A panel of 501 Listeria monocytogenes isolates obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service monitoring programs for ready-to-eat (RTE) foods were subtyped by multilocus genotyping (MLGT) and by sequencing the virulence gene inlA, which codes for internalin. MLGT analyses confirmed that clonal lineages associated with previous epidemic outbreaks were rare (7.6%) contaminants of RTE meat and poultry products and their production environments. Conversely, sequence analyses revealed mutations leading to 11 different premature stop codons (PMSCs) in inlA, including three novel PMSC mutations, and revealed that the frequency of these virulence-attenuating mutations among RTE isolates (48.5%) was substantially higher than previously appreciated. Significant differences (P < 0.001) in the frequency of inlA PMSCs were observed between lineages and between major serogroups, which could partially explain differences in association of these subtypes with human listeriosis. Interrogation of single-nucleotide polymorphisms responsible for PMSCs in inlA improved strain resolution among isolates with the 10 most common pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) patterns, 8 of which included isolates with a PMSC in inlA. The presence or absence of PMSCs in inlA accounted for significant differences (P < 0.05) in Caco-2 invasion efficiencies among isolates with identical PFGE patterns, and the proportion of PulseNet entries from clinical sources was significantly higher (P < 0.001) for PFGE patterns exclusively from isolates with full-length inlA. These results indicated that integration of PFGE and DNA sequence–based subtyping provides an improved framework for prediction of relative risk associated with L. monocytogenes strains from RTE foods.

Download Full-text

Evaluation of Antimicrobial Interventions against E. coli O157:H7 on the Surface of Raw Beef to Reduce Bacterial Translocation during Blade Tenderization

Foods ◽

10.3390/foods8020080 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 80 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peter Muriana ◽

Jackie Eager ◽

Brent Wellings ◽

Brad Morgan ◽

Jacob Nelson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Safety ◽

Safety Concern ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

E Coli ◽

Core Samples ◽

Spray System ◽

The Us ◽

Blade Tenderization ◽

Antimicrobial Interventions ◽

Inspection Service

The US Department of Agriculture, Food Safety Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) considers mechanically-tenderized beef as “non-intact” and a food safety concern because of the potential for translocation of surface Escherichia coli O157:H7 into the interior of the meat that may be cooked “rare or medium-rare” and consumed. We evaluated 14 potential spray interventions on E. coli O157:H7-inoculated lean beef wafers (~106 CFU/cm2, n = 896) passing through a spray system (18 s dwell time, ~40 pounds per square inch, PSI) integrated into the front end of a Ross TC-700MC tenderizer. Inoculated and processed beef wafers were stomached with D/E neutralizing broth and plated immediately, or were held in refrigerated storage for 1-, 7-, or 14-days prior to microbial enumeration. Seven antimicrobials that showed better performance in preliminary screening on beef wafers were selected for further testing on beef subprimals in conjunction with blade tenderization. Boneless top sirloin beef subprimals were inoculated at ~2 × 104 CFU/cm2 with a four-strain cocktail of E. coli O157:H7 and passed once, lean side up, through an integrated spray system and blade tenderizer. Core samples obtained from each subprimal were examined for the presence/absence of E. coli O157:H7. The absence of E. coli O157:H7 in core samples correlated with the ability of the antimicrobials to reduce bacterial levels on the surface of beef prior to blade tenderization.

Download Full-text

Food Safety and Regulatory Aspects of Cattle and Swine Cysticercosis

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-60.4.447 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 60 (4) ◽

pp. 447-453 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

PARMESH K. SAINI ◽

DONALD W. WEBERT ◽

PATRICK C. McCASKEY

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Food Safety ◽

The United States ◽

International Travel ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Annual Average ◽

North Central ◽

Cysticercus Cellulosae ◽

Cysticercus Bovis ◽

Inspection Service

Using slaughter disposition data maintained by the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, prevalence of cattle cysticercosis (Cysticercus bovis) for a l0-year period from 1985 through 1994 is reported. Out of an annual average of approximately 33 million slaughtered cattle, about 6,200 carcasses were identified with cysticercus lesions. In the five FSIS inspection regions in the United States, namely Western, Southwestern, Northeastern, Southeastern, and North Central, an average cattle cysticercosis prevalence of 0.0697, 0.0085,0.0012,0.0004, and 0.0003, respectively, is reported. The relevance of serological testing in lieu of, or as a supplement to, the current labor-intensive physical detection procedure in cattle is discussed, the latter being reported to miss close to one-third of the carcasses harboring cysticercus lesions. Out of a total of approximately 80 million swine slaughtered annually in the United States, the number of carcasses identified with cysticercus lesions (Cysticercus cellulosae) is extremely low, ranging from 1 through 44 during each of the 10 years. Swine cysticercosis (unlike cattle cysticercosis), with man being an alternate intermediate host, poses serious public health concerns with sometimes fatal consequences manifested through neurocysticercosis (Cysticercus cellulosae). Though human cysticercosis is still rare in the United States, recent reports have indicated an upturn in diagnosed cases. These are primarily the result of an increasing number of immigrants and international travel to and from endemic areas.

Download Full-text

Estimated Compliance for Removal of Specified Risk Materials from 18 U.S. Beef Packing Plants

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-71.3.573 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 71 (3) ◽

pp. 573-577 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

R. D. DEWELL ◽

T. W. HOFFMAN ◽

D. R. WOERNER ◽

K. E. BELK ◽

L. R. WHALEN ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Spinal Cord ◽

Food Safety ◽

Dorsal Root Ganglia ◽

Dorsal Root ◽

Compliance Rate ◽

Meat Products ◽

Human Consumption ◽

Department Of Agriculture ◽

Beef Processing ◽

Inspection Service

The removal of 18,345 specified risk materials was observed during audits of 18 U.S. beef processing facilities that, in total, account for over 90% of total U.S. beef slaughtered. Audited plants varied in capacity (280 to 6,000 head per day) and processed both “fed (young cattle)” and “nonfed (mature cows/bulls)” cattle. When all observations for removal of specified risk materials were combined from plants and adjusted for type of cattle processed, overall compliance with specified risk material removal regulations was 98.08%. A 100% compliance rate for removal of brains and distal ileums was recorded based on a total of 600 observations for removal of brains and a total of 2,400 observations for removal of distal ileums. Observations for removal of dorsal root ganglia were collected from 16 of the 18 plants, and overall compliance for dorsal root ganglia removal was 99.6% (4,783 of 4,800). Fifteen of the 16 plants were 100% compliant. For tonsils, data from 18 plants were collected, and tonsils were correctly removed from 92.8% (4,777 of 5,145) of tongues and heads. Data for spinal cord removal were collected from 18 plants, and the spinal cord was removed completely in line with U.S. Department of Agriculture–Food Safety and Inspection Service regulations for 99.43% of the observations. Based on the results of this study, packing plants have demonstrated that they are complying with regulations for removal of specified risk materials from beef meat products intended for human consumption greater than 98% of the time. To continue to assure food safety and consumer confidence, continued vigilance and provision of training programs for plant workers are essential.

Download Full-text