Pork Safety Meat Inspection

Meat Inspection vs. Meat Grading

Many consumers often confuse Meat Grading and Meat inspection. Meat Grading is a voluntary service performed by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of the USDA, which segments carcasses and, in turn, meat products from those carcasses, into homogeneous groups based on factors that predict the taste appeal of cooked meat and the quantity (yield) of meat from carcasses. In contrast, Meat Inspection is a mandatory program, conducted by the Food Safety and Inspection Service of the USDA, which oversees the production of safe and wholesome meat products for consumers. Meat Grading is paid for by the meat processor, whereas Meat Inspection programs are paid for by taxpayers, at an annual cost of less than $2.00 per person.

FSIS Meat Inspection Procedures

As the representative of consumers in a processing plant, the FSIS meat inspector is responsible for oversight of sanita-
tion and wholesomeness throughout the entire processing operation. Included in these responsibilities are:

• Facilities Construction and Operational Sanitation – Prior to the beginning of the day’s production at a processing facility, an examination of the establishment and premises is made by the inspector. The inspector examines the sanitary conditions and determines if facilities continue to meet specified building and equipment regulations.
• Antemortem Inspection – All livestock offered for slaughter in a federally inspected processing facility must be examined on the premises of the establishment by a veterinarian or lay inspector under veterinary supervision on the day of, and prior to, slaughter. The animal is observed both in motion and at rest, in order to identify any conditions that may raise questions as to its general health. Animals suspected of a diseased condition, or showing other conditions that might result in condemnation, are retained (identified as U.S. Suspect), and slaughtered as a group for postmortem inspection. If during live animal inspection an animal showsobvious symptoms of disease, it is condemned at that time (identified as U.S. Condemned), and not allowed to enter the human food chain.
• Postmortem Inspection – The most intense phase of meat inspection occurs during the postmortem examination. As with antemortem inspection, this is done by, or under the supervision of a veterinary inspector. Organs, lymph nodes and the entire carcass are examined for evidence of unwholesome conditions. As with the antemortem inspection, all animals slaughtered in an inspected facility are examined during postmortem inspection. If an animal, its carcass, or any of its parts is condemned, these undergo high temperature denaturation treatment (under the supervision of the FSIS inspector), and do not enter the human food chain.
• Product Inspection – The jurisdiction of FSIS meat inspectors extend to the cutting and further processing departments of a meat processing plant. It is the inspectors’ responsibility to assure that all processing steps (cutting, curing, smoking, grinding, etc.) are carried out under sanitary conditions, to ensure that processing methods are adequate, and to protect the consumer against the use of harmful substances in the formulations of products.
• Application of the USDA Inspection Legend – Each FSIS-USDA inspected plant is granted a specific establishment number which is placed on the facility’s official inspection legend (Figure 1). Each inspection legend is affixed not only to packaged meat product labels, but also stamped (with edible ink) on carcasses and carcass parts, including edible byproducts.
• Residue and Microbiological Laboratory Analysis – Additional inspection procedures involve the use of laboratory assays to detect biological and chemical hazards, and to assure that product formulations (ex: sausage and hams) are in compliance with FSIS regulations. Samples for the laboratory analysis are routinely taken on a random basis using a statistical sampling plan that permits a high degree of assurance that the products sampled are in compliance with regulatory requirements. In addition to testing for unapproved additives and chemical residues in meat products, FSIS also oversees testing for bacteria (including generic E. Coli and Salmonella).
• Labeling and Product Standards – FSIS inspectors are responsible for assuring that meat products leaving a meat processing facility are accurately labeled, including both ingredient labeling, and nutritional labeling, when applicable.
• Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) – The most significant change in meat inspection occurred 1996 with the Final Rule: Pathogen Reduction and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point System FSIS published in the July 25, 1996 Federal Register. The HACCP concept has been used successfully in the canning industry (thermally processed, low acid foods packaged in hermetically sealed containers) for over twenty years and now FSIS is moving towards reliance on HACCP in other areas of processing, as a form of safety regulation. The HACCP concept is a systematic approach to hazard identification, assessment, and control. A HACCP plan is implemented by plant personnel and monitored for effectiveness by FSIS inspectors. Traditional inspection is primarily focused on diseased animals and on observing problems with the final product, which is especially ineffective in identifying microbiological hazards in the final product before the food item is released to the public. HACCP is a preventative system that attempts to keep microbiological, chemical and physical hazards from entering the meat or poultry product at critical places along the production line at the processing facility.

The HACCP system is comprised of 7 components:

1. Assess hazards and risks associated with growing and harvesting raw materials and ingredients and with processing, manufacturing, distribution, marketing, preparation, and consumption of the food.
2. Determine Critical Control Points (CCP) required to control the identified hazard. A CCP is a location, practice, procedure, or process at which control can be exercised over one or more factors which, if controlled, could minimize or prevent a hazard. An example of a CCP in a cooked ham product would be the cooking phase in the smokehouse, which should be controlled to assure the destruction of microbiological pathogens.
3. Establish the critical limits that indicate whether an operation is under control at a particular CCP. Critical limits may be defined as physical (e.g. time or temperature), chemical (e.g. salt or acetic acid), or biological (e.g. sensory evaluation). For example, the cooking of a meat patty should be designed to eliminate the most heat resistant pathogen (ex. Listeria and trichina), which could be expected to be in that product. The critical limits for the cooking of meat patties would include oven temperatures, cooking times, and patty thickness.
4. Establish and implement procedures to monitor each CCP to check that it is under control. Monitoring is the scheduled testing or observation of a CCP and its limits and must be documentable and determinable at the time the production line is in operation. Ideally, the monitoring would be performed by mechanical methods continually during production, such as temperature recording device with an alarm system. In the HACCP system there is zero tolerance for exceeding a critical limit. Microbiological testing is of limited value for monitoring CCP’s as the time required to obtain results does not permit action to be taken while the meat product is being produced and therefore if not useful in determining is the CCP is under control.
5. Establish a corrective action plan to initiate when monitoring results indicate that a CCP is not under control. This plan must eliminate the actual or potential hazard which was created by a deviation from the HACCP plan, and assure safe disposition of the product involved. Maintain an effective record keeping system that documents the operation of and action taken during the implementation of the HACCP plan.
6. Establish procedures for verification that the HACCP plan is working correctly. This component includes periodically performed procedures by plant employees and outside parties (including visual inspection and random sample collection and analysis for hazards), reviews the HACCP plan and CCP records, which includes a written record of verification inspections. This record certifies compliance with the HACCP plan or deviation from the plan and the corrective action taken. An example of a verification procedure would be a microbiological test for Salmonella in a cooked pork sausage product.1.