scholarly journals Risk Factors for Salmonella Contamination of Whole Chicken Carcasses following Changes in U.S. Regulatory Oversight

Author(s):  
Aaron Beczkiewicz ◽  
Barbara B. Kowalcyk

Salmonella is a common cause of foodborne illness in the U.S. and often is attributed to chicken products. Previous studies have associated Salmonella contamination with meat processing facility characteristics such as the number of establishment employees (i.e., HACCP size). An evaluation of risk factors for Salmonella contamination in U.S. poultry has not been performed since implementation of the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) in 2014. The goal of this study was to determine if risk factors for Salmonella contamination changed following implementation of NPIS. Presence/absence of Salmonella in whole chicken carcasses was modeled using microbiological testing data collected from 203 poultry processing establishments by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS) between May 2015 and December 2019. A model was fit using generalized estimating equations for weekly presence/absence of Salmonella with production volume, geographic location, and season included as potential covariates, among other establishment demographics. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated from the marginal model. Of the 40,497 analyzable samples, 1,725 (4.26%) were positive for Salmonella. Odds of contamination was lower among establishments slaughtering ≥ 10,000,000 birds per year (OR = 0.466; 95% CI: [0.307,0.710]) and establishments producing ready-to-eat (RTE) finished products (OR = 0.498; 95% CI: [0.298,0.833]) while higher among establishments historically (previous 84-days) noncompliant with HACCP (OR = 1.249; 95% CI: [1.071,1.456]). Contamination also significantly varied by season and geographic region, with higher odds of contamination during summer and outside the Mid-East Central region. These results support continuation of targeted food safety policies and initiatives promoting pathogen reduction by smaller-volume establishments and those noncompliant with HACCP regulations.

2007 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 582-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
PATRICIA L. WHITE ◽  
ALECIA L. NAUGLE ◽  
CHARLENE R. JACKSON ◽  
PAULA J. FEDORKA-CRAY ◽  
BONNIE E. ROSE ◽  
...  

The U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) tests for Salmonella in meat, poultry, and egg products through three regulatory testing programs: the Pathogen Reduction–Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (PR-HACCP) program, the ready-to-eat program for meat and poultry products, and the pasteurized egg products program. From 1998 through 2003, 293,938 samples collected for these testing programs were analyzed for the presence of Salmonella enterica serotypes. Of these samples, 12,699 (4.3%) were positive for Salmonella, and 167 (1.3%) of the positive samples (0.06% of all samples) contained Salmonella Enteritidis. The highest incidence of Salmonella Enteritidis was observed in ground chicken PR-HACCP samples (8 of 1,722 samples, 0.46%), and the lowest was found in steer-heifer PR-HACCP samples (0 of 12,835 samples). Salmonella Enteritidis isolates were characterized by phage type, pulsed-field gel electrophoretic pattern, and antimicrobial susceptibility. Phage typing of 94 Salmonella Enteritidis isolates identified PT13 (39 isolates) and PT8 (36 isolates) as the most common types. One isolate from a ready-to-eat ham product was characterized as PT4. Electrophoretic analysis of 148 Salmonella Enteritidis isolates indicated genetic diversity among the isolates, with 28 unique XbaI electrophoretic patterns identified. Of these 148 isolates, 136 (92%) were susceptible to each of 16 antimicrobials tested. Two isolates were resistant to ampicillin alone, and 10 isolates were resistant to two or more antimicrobials. Isolation of Salmonella Enteritidis from FSIS-regulated products emphasizes the need for continued consumer education on proper food handling and cooking practices and continued work to decrease the prevalence of Salmonella in meat, poultry, and pasteurized egg products.


1990 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 838-841
Author(s):  
James D Macneil ◽  
John R Patterson ◽  
Adrian C Fesser ◽  
Valerie K Martz

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%.


2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (12) ◽  
pp. 2095-2101
Author(s):  
JIANBIN YU ◽  
NEAL H. HOOKER

ABSTRACT In August 2008, the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) launched a new policy that required publication of a list of retail consignees for the meat and poultry products part of class I recalls, those with the greatest potential impact on public health. In this study, two recall effectiveness measures (recovery rate and completion time) and a difference-in-difference method were used to examine the effects of retailer disclosures. When controlling for factors previously determined to impact recall effectiveness, including product type, reasons for recall, the amount of food recalled, plant size, and the way the problem was discovered, no significant impact on recall effectiveness was discerned under the current disclosure policy. Recalls for bacterial contamination had higher recovery rates. Larger recalls had lower recovery rates and longer completion times. Recalls issued by very small plants had lower recovery rates. Compared with other stakeholders, government agency discovery of the problem was associated with lower recovery rates. As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers a similar retailer disclosure policy for foods regulated under the Food Safety Modernization Act, such lessons from the USDA experience should inform the policy debate. HIGHLIGHTS


2020 ◽  
Vol 83 (8) ◽  
pp. 1368-1373
Author(s):  
JOHN JOHNSTON ◽  
RANDOLPH DUVERNA ◽  
MICHAEL WILLIAMS ◽  
RITA KISHORE ◽  
CATALINA YEE ◽  
...  

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


2016 ◽  
Vol 79 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
KIS ROBERTSON ◽  
ALICE GREEN ◽  
LATASHA ALLEN ◽  
TIMOTHY IHRY ◽  
PATRICIA WHITE ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) works closely with federal, state, and local public health partners to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks associated with its regulated products. To provide insight into outbreaks associated with meat and poultry, outbreaks reported to FSIS during fiscal years 2007 through 2012 were evaluated. Outbreaks were classified according to the strength of evidence linking them to an FSIS-regulated product and by their epidemiological, etiological, and vehicle characteristics. Differences in outbreak characteristics between the period 2007 through 2009 and the period 2010 through 2012 were assessed using a chi-square test or Mann-Whitney U test. Of the 163 reported outbreaks eligible for analysis, 89 (55%) were identified as possibly linked to FSIS-regulated products and 74 (45%) were definitively linked to FSIS-regulated products. Overall, these outbreaks were associated with 4,132 illnesses, 772 hospitalizations, and 19 deaths. Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli was associated with the greatest proportion of reported outbreaks (55%), followed by Salmonella enterica (34%) and Listeria monocytogenes (7%). Meat and poultry products commercially sold as raw were linked to 125 (77%) outbreaks, and of these, 105 (80%) involved beef. Over the study period, the number of reported outbreaks definitively linked to FSIS-regulated products (P =0.03) declined, while the proportion of culture-confirmed cases (P = 0.0001) increased. Our findings provide insight into the characteristics of outbreaks associated with meat and poultry products.


1995 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 1294-1302
Author(s):  
Helen T McCarthy ◽  
Anna R Sullivan

Abstract A 2-part study was performed to compare tho Tur-boVap evaporator v/ith the traditional Kuderna-Darv-Ish concentrator for analysis of selected pesticides and related compounds (study 1) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) (study 2) In fat samples. To compare results, bias and precision data were evaluated for pesticides and related compounds and bias v/as evaluated for PCBs. For study 1, 20 samples of poultry fat were spiked with known amounts of 13 pesticides and related compounds. Samples were extracted v/ith petroleum ether, cleaned up with Florisil, and evaporated in either a Kudorna-Danlsh concentrator or a TurboVap evaporator. The pesticides and related compounds were identified and quantitated by gas chromatography v/ith electron capture detection. Biases, as indicated by average recoveries of pesticides and related compounds, were 63 and 73%, respectively, for the TurboVap and Kudema-Danlsh procedures. Recoveries of pesticides and related compounds, except methoxychlor, by tho TurboVap evaporator were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05) than recoveries by Kudema-Danish concentration. Average recoveries with the TurboVap procedure were 10% lower than recoveries with the Kudema-Danlsh procedure. Precisions for both procedures were determined by testing for equality of variances with the F-test. A significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) for precision between the 2 procedures was found only for endrin. Study 2 was conducted on 14 accreditation PCB samples from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service. PCB recoveries were 70–125% with the Kuderna-Danish apparatus and 69–106% with the TurboVap evaporator. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was found between the 2 procedures for PCB analysis. The TurboVap ovaporator gave consistently lower results for pesticides and related compounds compared with the traditional Kuderna-Danish concentrator; precisions for both procedures were similar. Results for PCBs analyzed by both procedures v/cre not significantly different. Lower recoveries for pcstlcidos and rotated compounds notwithstanding. tho TurboVap concentrator offers advantages over tho older Kudorna-Danlsh ovaporator In terms of turnaround time and efficient use of laboratory space.


2018 ◽  
Vol 81 (7) ◽  
pp. 1063-1067 ◽  
Author(s):  
ROBERT G. REINHARD ◽  
ROBIN M. KALINOWSKI ◽  
PETER W. BODNARUK ◽  
JOSEPH D. EIFERT ◽  
RENEE R. BOYER ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT A multiyear survey of 31 ready-to-eat (RTE) food processing plants in the United States was conducted to determine the incidence of Listeria spp. in various RTE production environments. Samples were collected from 22 RTE plants regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and from 9 RTE food plants regulated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Only nonfood contact surfaces in the RTE manufacturing areas with exposed RTE product were sampled. Each sample was individually analyzed for the presence of Listeria spp. by using a PCR-based rapid assay. In total, 4,829 samples were collected from various locations, including freezers, equipment framework, floors, walls, wall-floor junctures, drains, floor mats, doors, and cleaning tools. Nine (29%) of the facilities had zero samples positive for Listeria spp. in the production environment, whereas 22 (71%) had one or more samples positive for Listeria spp. The total incidence of Listeria spp. in all RTE food plants was 4.5%. The positive rate in plants regulated by the FSIS ranged from 0 to 9.7%, whereas the positive rate in plants regulated by the FDA ranged from 1.2 to 36%.


2001 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 826-832 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHERYL C. CATES ◽  
DONALD W. ANDERSON ◽  
SHAWN A. KARNS ◽  
PATRICIA A. BROWN

Federal meat and poultry inspection has changed little since the Federal Meat Inspection Act was passed in 1906, followed by the Poultry Products Inspection Act of 1957 and related amendments. These acts mandate sensory or organoleptic (sight, smell, and touch) inspection of all carcasses. For several decades, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has been urged by various organizations to move to a scientific, risk-based inspection system. In partial response to these calls, the FSIS has developed new slaughter inspection models that are currently being tested with volunteer plants in the hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP)–based inspection models project. To evaluate whether plants operating under the new inspection models perform at least as well as they did under the current or traditional system, microbial and organoleptic data are being collected before and after the implementation of the new inspection models. In this article, we describe the baseline and models data collection procedures and present the results of the baseline and models data collection for eight plants that slaughter young chickens. The results from the first eight volunteer plants suggest that inspection under the new models is equivalent and in some ways superior to that of traditional inspection. This pilot project suggests that new slaughter inspection systems, which rely on HACCP principles with FSIS oversight and verification services, can maintain or even improve food safety and other consumer protection conditions relative to traditional hands-on inspection methods.


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