Once again, the meat industry deserves to be congratulated for another great year! With fewer than 50 recalls at the time of this writing, 2021 will go down in history as one of the safest years for the meat industry in the last two decades.

When it comes to pathogen control in raw beef products, a lot has changed over the past 20 years. 

Toxoplasma gondii is an extremely serious parasite that is a leading cause of hospitalizations (fourth leading) and death (second only to Salmonella) from foodborne sources in the United States. 

No, the title of this column does not contain a typo. Under the right circumstances, most of which are unpredictable, Salmonella can give you a real body slam.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a contagious neurological disease that affects deer and other cervids. CWD is classified as a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) disease also known as a prion disease. 

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

As most of you know, as a food industry lawyer, I have represented the food industry for over 20 years. During the course of that time, I have closely tracked evolving USDA policy, the strengthening of FSIS inspection and surveillance programs, the continuing parade of food product recalls, and the nearly monthly emergence of new foodborne illness outbreaks.

There are several factors that can make controlling Salmonella in poultry difficult. Chief among them is the long-standing perception held by some operations that processing-plant interventions can eliminate most of the risk associated with any potential threat.

Bacterial pathogens, such as Salmonella spp. and Campylobacter, continue to be the leading suspected causes of foodborne illnesses from poultry products today.

Controlling pathogens in meat and poultry processing is particularly challenging given the multiple points of contact.