|
USDA is considering increasing its scrutiny of primals,
subprimals and bench trim used by processors and retailers
to make ground beef after a series of recalls this summer
and survey results that showed more than 70 percent of processors
grind these products.
Primals, subprimals and bench trim are not the current focus
of USDA's protocols to test for the presence of E. coli
O157:H7, which traditionally have been centered around ground
beef sampling and, starting last year, sampling carcass
trim destined for grinding. Carcass trim is lean and fat
removed at slaughter when primal and subprimal cuts are
created for boxed beef; bench trim is defined as excess
lean and fat trimmed from primal and subprimal cuts during
further processing, often at another facility.
The problem, according to USDA's Food Safety and Inspection
Service Deputy Assistant Administrator Daniel Engeljohn,
is that more than 70 percent of plants USDA surveyed this
year acknowledged they sometimes grind primals, subprimals
and bench trim. "That is a concern to the agency because
we don't presently have a focus on those primals and subprimals
that are not intended for ground beef production," Engeljohn
told Meatingplace.com in an interview.
"If you are going to use primals and subprimals in the production
of ground beef, you need to have in place a control program
that will address the risk that you are encountering," he
continued. "What we found from that survey is that many
establishments are not accounting for the risk that those
products may pose. Part of my job is to figure out now how
we start focusing there as well as incorporating a bench
trim testing program."
The results of the so-called "checklist" survey USDA took
earlier this year of plant practices regarding E. coli detection
will be made public this Friday.
Retail concern
Also of concern are retail establishments that grind beef
— particularly in the aftermath of the recent Nebraska Beef
Ltd. recall of 1.2 million pounds of primal, subprimal and
boxed beef that sickened consumers when they ate ground
beef derived from those cuts.
Engeljohn said USDA's monitoring and testing procedures
at retailers that grind also need improvement.
"We do test there, but on a limited basis and usually if
there are high-risk practices, such as poor production records.
Clearly the recalls this summer have been related to retail
operations that are grinding bench trim and other materials
they are deriving in their own operations, so we are looking
to see what we need to do about our retail program on grinding,"
he said.
Major retailers including Kroger and Whole Foods Market
had to recall ground beef products made from boxed beef
processed by Nebraska Beef.
New guidelines
More frequent testing and refined testing methods this year
have, as expected, resulted in more positive results for
E. coli O157:H7. Engeljohn noted that because current mitigations
cannot completely destroy E. coli, sometimes more positives
are purely the result of more testing, but other times they
indicate a systemic problem.
"We are going to issue guidance this Friday on how we think
(processors) can discern the difference between a sporadic
problem of identifying positives and a systemic problem,"
he said. "And we think that will go a long way towards helping
them discern whether or not their systems are adequate."
|
