Food Safety

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Processors can’t take a hands-off approach to employee hygiene.

The meat of healthy cattle is sterile and surrounded by two areas that are highly contaminated with microorganisms. These areas are the hide and the intestinal tract.

Wherever there are bacteria, very likely there are bacteriophages attacking them.

Cattle producers need a variety of tools in their pre-harvest toolbox to aid in food-safety interventions.

The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was created to ensure the safety of the U.S. food supply. FSMA shifts industry focus from responding to contamination, to preventing it, making food processors take a more proactive approach to eliminating and preventing foodborne contaminants from entering their plants.

Recalls occur on meat and poultry products for a variety of reasons — from positive tests for pathogens to allergen-labeling issues to foreign-material contamination. Any reason for a product recall is a serious one — and each should open the industry’s eyes to what it can do better to prevent these recalls from occurring.