Food Safety

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Keeping equipment properly lubricated is vital if plant operators are to maximize the life of technologies and enjoy optimal output with limited downtime. Analysts say the best way to do this is by implementing a strict lubrication regimen.

In the ongoing war against pathogens in meat and poultry plants, bacteriophages are becoming a potentially potent weapon.

The pest-control technologies currently used for poultry facilities primarily rely on spraying pesticides to disinfect waterers and feeders. 

For years, experts and analysts have predicted a future in which artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning would revolutionize the industry. By all indications, the future is here.

Metal object contamination in the meat industry is relatively rare, but it can lead to a disproportionate amount of recalled products. According to 2019 USDA data, recalls for possible presence of metal objects accounted for 34% of foreign matter contamination cases and for 90% of total pounds of recalled meat.

On June 4, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS, or the agency) published a Federal Register notice, Expansion of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Testing to Additional Raw Beef Products. 

Processors have several options for pasteurization, including high-pressure pasteurization (HPP), hot water, steam, hot air, infrared heat, radiofrequency and irradiation. Hot water, steam and HPP are the most popular, with HPP and hot water growing the fastest, says Wes Shilling, professor of food science at Mississippi State University in Mississippi State.

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the United States, the meat industry increasingly faces the potential of pandemic-related economic and legal threats.