Food Inspection Flashcards
Objectives of meat inspection (7)
-Protect public health
Eliminate diseased and adulterated (contaminated) meat from food chain
-Create consumer confidence
-Prevent the sale of objectionable, undesirable or aesthetically unacceptable meat
-Prevent misrepresentation of products
-Surveillance for animal health problems (Slaughtered animals serve as sentinels for animal diseases with gross pathologic lesions )
- Improved access to international export markets
Federal meat inspection act
-prohibited the sale of adulterated or misbranded livestock and derived products as food
and ensured that livestock were slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions
-Requires inspection of all meat sold from livestock (Defined as: cattle, sheep, swine, goats, equids)
-Meat processing plants under daily inspection -Inspection also of “meat products” production
Meat from farmed deer, elk, rabbits, alligators: does this fall under federal meat and inspection act?
No
Poultry is covered by what act
Poultry products inspection act
Meat from farmed deer, rabbits, alligators fall under what rules/organization
General rules by FDA
All food sold commercially must come from approved source
Poultry products inspection act
-Requires inspection of poultry and poultry products
-Poultry is defined as “any domesticated bird, whether live or dead”
-Inspection must ensure poultry is wholesome, not adulterated, and labeled properly
Egg products inspection act
Ensures that eggs and egg products are wholesome, otherwise not adulterated, and properly labeled and packaged to protect the health and welfare of consumers of these products
How is poultry defined
Any domesticated bird, whether live or dead
Federal vs state inspection
Federal - interstate or export
State - intrastate only
What kind of establishments can produce products that are destined to enter interstate commerce or for export to foreign countries
Federal
Which organization can visit importing country and review inspection procedure there
USDA
Can slaughter facilities conduct slaughter operations if FSIS inspection personnel are not present
No
Role of veterinary services in meat safety (4)
-Management : Policy development, risk assessment, standard setting, and auditing
-On Farm Food Safety Programs: Health of animals and hygienic rearing conditions (often developed with industry and audited by private practitioners)
-Meat inspection Programs: Direct inspection, supervision and auditing, HACCP etc
-Certification of animal products for international trade
Which veterinarian upholds the USDA-FSIS commitment to ensuring food safety
Public health veterinarian
5 Public health vet responsibilities: USDA-FSIS
-Conduct antemortem and postmortem inspection of meat and poultry products
-Conduct foreign animal disease surveillance
- Supervise and assist food inspectors on the inspection line to ensure compliance with federal regulations
- Conduct inspection of egg products
- Enforce federal meat and poultry inspection procedures, including animal welfare laws
Internships vs externships
Internships = paid
Externships= not paid
Adel A Malak scholarship
15,000 funding for each year in program
Slaughterhouse flow
Farm —-> transport to Lairage for ante Morten inspection —> slaughter via shun/shackle/bleed —> carcass dressing (remove heat, hide/hair hooves; evisceration; split carcass) with post Mortem inspection —> weigh grade —> chill
Lairage definition
Place where sheep/cattle can be rested during transit to abattoir
Abattoir =
Slaughterhouse
Antemortem inspection of livestock
- Inspection of individual live animals prior to slaughter - Helps keep ill animals out of food chain
- Many conditions can be noted antemortem that may not be readily apparent postmortem
- Helps reduce contamination of abattoir/slaughterhouse
Antemortem inspection procedure (3/4)
-Observe animals at rest
-Observe animals in motion from one or both sides (varies by plant / supervisor)
-Determine if the animal is normal or abnormal
- Take temperature of animals as needed
Problems noted at antemortem inspection: animals at rest (8)
-Fractures & downer animals
- Labored breathing
-Excessive excitability
-Severe depression
- Tumors, lumps and bumps
-Cancer eye
-Injection site reactions
- Actinomycosis
Problems noted at antemortem inspection: animals in motion (4)
-Lameness
- Non-ambulatory
-Ataxia/incoordination
-Circling
What does public health veterinarian make at inspection
Disposition
Disposition made by public health vet during inspection
-directed by criteria that are found in the Meat and Poultry Inspection Regulations
-Professional issue: “made with dispatch, confidence and consistency”
-Consumer considered first, but never so stringent to cause unnecessary waste
-Must be defensible, as in a clinical setting
Subject to inspection: definition
Animal is brought by plant operator, subject to passing inspection
Seller is only paid for those parts passing inspection
Disposition: definition
Ultimate handling of a carcass or its parts according to current regulations
Passed for slaughter definition
Determined to be fit for human food
Suspect animal definition
Animal suspected of having disease or conditions that would make part or all of the carcass unfit for food
Detailed postmortem inspection needed!!
Condemned animal definition
Clearly exhibits disease or conditions that make them unfit for human food
Must be destroyed and not slaughtered for food
Dead, dying, disabled or diseased livestock
If animal has:
History of recent illness or medication
OR
Signs indicative of localized disease condition
They are (suspect, passed, or condemned?)
Suspect
Conditions that result in condemnation (6)
Dead
Dying
Diseased
Disabled
Systemic infection
Systemic metabolic conditions = ketosis, parturient paresis
Humane methods of slaughter act
- requires the humane treatment and handling of food
animals at the slaughter plant while also providing a quick and effective death - Enforced by the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
-HMSA protects all livestock except poultry
Which agency enforces humane methods of slaughter act
USDA-FSIS
Does the humane methods of slaughter act protect poultry
No
2 step process of slaughter
Stunning
Exsanguination
What is the one exception to humane slaughter process
Ritual = kosher, halal
Handling and slaughter of livestock directive
Livestock have to be rendered insensible to pain before being shackled, hoisted or cut
Ritual slaughter
-Under Jewish and Islamic law, animals for slaughter must be healthy and uninjured at the time of death, which rules out driving a bolt into the brain
- Animal’s neck is severed with a surgically sharp knife, severing it’s major arteries causing a massive drop in blood pressure
-The cut itself stuns the animal Then it dies of exsanguination
4 approved methods of stunning: humane slaughter
Carbon dioxide
Electricity
Captive bolt
Firearms
Postmortem inspection
-ASAP after carcass dressing
-Consumer safety is the first priority
-Only meat fit for consumption is passed
- Prevention of unnecessary waste
- Account for all parts
-Disease surveillance is also important
- Disposition depends upon severity of disease, whether disease is reportable, level of zoonotic risk, and aesthetic value
4 methods for postmortem inspection
Sight – observing a disease lesion (abscess, tumor)
Feel – palpating (feeling an abnormal lump in tissues, feeling abnormal firmness in an organ)
Smell – Smelling the urine odor of uremia, smelling the contents of a broken abscess)
Hearing – Listening to a carcass fall off the line onto the floor
Adultered definition (carcass)
Including an added, foreign or interior substance, that can’t be removed by trimming
Contaminated definition (carcass)
Having materials on the surface (dirty, stained, infected) that can be removed by trimming
4 possible outcomes of disposing of edible parts
Passed
Condemned
Hold
Restricted
Restricted: postmortem disposal of edible parts
Can be used for human food with restriction
Only if heated, cooked, refrigerated for several days or added to fragmented product
Can condemned carcasses be used for human food
No
Condemned carcasses must be destroyed by what processes (2)
Rendering
Incineration
What term describes animal/carcass that is acceptable for use as human food
Passed
3 steps of postmortem inspection for livestock
Head inspection
Viscera inspection
Carcass inspection
2 actions that must take place if abnormalities are observed while performing postmortem inspection
- If the disease or condition of the head, organ, or carcass is localized, trim the affected tissues and pass +/- restrictions
- If the disease or condition is generalized and affects the majority of the head, organ, or carcass retain it for veterinary disposition
Which organ is most important for disease detection
Lymph nodes/lymphatics
Head inspection: postmortem
-Head: Masseter muscle – slice (Cysticercosis, Eosinophilic myositis)
-Lymph nodes – incised: Parotid, mandibular, medial retropharyngeal, lateral retropharyngeal ; Swelling, abscesses, TB, caseous lymphadenitis
-Tongue – palpate: Wooden tongue (Actinobacillosis), eosinophilic myositis
Also: Lump jaw (Actimomycosis), Cancer eye
Viscera inspection: postmortem
-Digestive tract: Parasites, icterus, should not be opened
-Mesenteric lymph nodes incised: TB, septicemia - Palpate rumino-reticular junction: Hardware
-Observe all other organs: Icterus, peritonitis, adhesions
Carcass inspection: postmortem
-Observe back, sides, pleura, peritoneum, cut surfaces of carcass, and neck muscles: Contamination, masses/swellings, bruises, injuries, discoloration, peritonitis, pleuritis, arthritis
- Palpate internal iliac and superficial inguinal or supramammary lymph nodes: Septicemia, mastitis, TB, abscesses
-Observe and palpate kidneys: Nephritis, Embryonal nephroma, Hydronephrosis, parasites, boar taint -Observe and palpate the diaphrag
General rules for condemnation
-Systemic disease
-Generally unfit for food if carcass contains
-Infectious agent or toxins
- Morbid tissue
- Discolored tissue
- Abnormalities involving several organs
- Inflammation, degeneration, neoplasia
- Evidence of abnormal systemic physiological states (fever, ketosis, etc.)
When is carcass trimming permitted
-when there is local involvement with diseases not transmissible to humans
- Affected parts removed and discarded
- The remainder may be passed, with or without restrictions, depending upon the disease process
When can meat be passed with restrictions
When risk is minor and can be mitigated by cooking, freezing
Labels: inspectors have to mark (3)
-Inspected and Passed (meats)
- Inspected for Wholesomeness (poultry)
- Inspected and Condemned
Microbial monitoring in USDA facilities (4 things that are monitored)
-Culture for pathogenic microbes
-Tests for antibiotic residues
- Tests for pesticides
- Confirm identity of meats in mixed products
Traditional meat inspection
-Sensory or organoleptic (sight, smell and touch) inspection of all carcasses
-However, sensory/Organoleptic inspection: Can’t detect microbial pathogens that pose the greatest risk; Doesn’t target or reduce microbial pathogens
Goal of risk based meat inspection
Reduce burden of disease in population
Risk based meat inspection (3)
- Identify and evaluate foodborne disease risks: Prioritize foodborne disease risks by their disease burden; Target those risks with the greatest burden of disease
- Develop risk management strategies - Good hygienic practices, Inspection, HACCP and other controls; Aimed at reducing the burden of disease in the population
- Measure effectiveness (disease burden) and adjust as needed
