RED MEAT AND POULTRY INSPECTION: MICROBIOLOGY OF EQUIPMENT AND PROCESSING1

The Federal Meat and Poultry Inspection Program (MPIP) requires that equipment be properly designed and cleaned frequently. Cooked ready-to-eat foods must be physically separated from raw foods and held below 40 F or above 120 F except for short periods. Microbiological plant inspections form the basis for microbiological criteria which MPIP is now considering for several commodities. Final product objective surveillance has recently begun on these. Sampling and analysis of final product as a means of protecting the consumer against an infrequent hazard is not feasible. Even hundreds of determinations give unacceptably low protection when the hazard is severe. Control at the source—i.e., at the processing plant—is the practical way to protect consumers with the limited resources available in laboratory programs. The MPIP microbiological sanitation program is a combination of investigation, surveillance, and correction. For example, the 1971 investigations of staphylococcal food poisonings from fermented s...