Food Protection Trends - September 2008 - (Page 655)

TABLE 3. S. aureus counts (log10 CFU/plate) from the front and back of each hand of operators at the punching station during sheep carcass dressing Operator 1 Front of hand 3.32 2.96 2 2.56 3.04 3 1.45 3.56 4 3.11 3.51 Mean 2.94 Back of hand 2.90 3.34 3.32 3.08 3.90 3.90 3.45 3.08 3.37 all 10 hindquarters, with a mean log10 of 0.17 CFU/cm2, counts ranging from log10 –0.89 to 0.83 CFU/cm2. It was noted that at operations post fleece removal at plant C, all operators wore disposable gloves and operators did not handle the hindquarters. It is believed that the final inspection procedures were responsible for contaminating hindquarters, either directly from the hands of the inspectors or via cross contamination from the flanks and briskets. Prevalence and numbers of S. aureus on the hands of punching operators Plates of Baird Parker Agar (BPA) were prepared using large (14.5 cm2) Petri dishes that were large enough for the operator to press the entire hand onto the agar. Four operators who were undertaking punching placed the front and back of each hand on a BPA plate. For each operator, four plates were used (2 hands × front × back of hand). The data (Table 3) confirm that each operator carried S. aureus on both surfaces of both hands, with around 3 log units S. aureus being transferred to the press plate. It should be emphasized that the four operators involved in punching fleeces were diligent in washing their hands and arms with soap and water between each body and that there were excellent facilities for this task. However, it was also noted that they bore numerous small nicks and abrasions on their hands, possibly due to contact with grass seeds protruding through the fleece (“seedy sheep”). It is commonly believed that S. aureus is especially prevalent in wounds, particularly if these are kept moist. It was not possible to sample the hands of either operator involved in final inspection. It seems clear from the present study that a relatively small number of operators may cause widespread contamination of carcasses, particularly when they handle tissues that are still warm. From Table 2 it can be seen that, with six operators at plant C undertaking punching and final inspection with their bare hands, S. aureus was recovered from 20/25 (80%) of chilled carcasses. It should be noted that slaughter and dressing operations at plant C have been designed primarily to minimize fecal contamination and, with 2/25 (8%) carcasses positive for E. coli, the prevalence at plant C was much lower than the national average of 33% established in Baseline 3. Observations show that manual punching and pull back of the fleece minimize roll-back and therefore minimize contamination of the freshly exposed carcass. Unfortunately, manual punching can also lead to contamination with S. aureus, particularly when the knuckles and back of the hand of operators suffer small nicks that occur when “seedy” sheep are punched. This poses the question: can manual punching, which is common, especially for lambs, be done without contaminating with S. aureus? It was learned that at least one plant equips operators involved in punching with a cut-resistant glove, covered by an elbow-length disposable glove. While this is done primarily for Occupational Health and Safety reasons, it minimizes contamination with S. aureus. Interrogation of data from this plant in the third baseline study indicated that S. aureus was isolated from 32% of sheep carcasses in the first sampling and on 0/19 carcasses in the second sampling; the latter sampling was done after the mandating of glove use by all personnel. Although the recent introduction of gloves in some Australian abattoirs is primarily linked with operator safety, it is clear that wearing disposable gloves beneath cut-proof and/or mesh gloves also minimizes contamination with S. aureus. The extent to which control at the abattoir level passes to the retail level is the subject of a separate investigation, but the introduction of gloves on slaughter floors and in boning rooms is likely to have a major influence on retail levels of S. aureus. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to management and staff of the meat processing companies who participated in the present study, which was financed through the SAFEMEAT food safety R&D program, with matching funds provided by the Australian Government. REFERENCES 1. Desmarchelier, P., G. Higgs, L. Mills, A. Sullivan, and P. Vanderlinde. 1999. Incidence of coagulase positive Staphylococcus on beef carcasses in three Australian abattoirs. Int. J. Food Microbiol. 47:221–229. 2. Food Safety and Inspection Service. 1996. Pathogen reduction; hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) systems; final rule. Fed. Regist. 61:38806–38989. 3. Phillips, D., D. Jordan, S. Morris, I. Jenson, and J. Sumner. 2006a. SEPTEMBER 2008 | FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS 655

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - September 2008

Food Protection Trends - September 2008 Contents Sustaining Members Perspectives from Your President Commentary from the Executive Director Controlling Staphylococcus aureus on Beef and Sheep Carcasses in Australia Fatal Food Allergy Reactions in Restaurants and Foodservice Establishments:�Strategies for Prevention New Members Updates News Industry Products Coming Events Advertising Index Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents Audiovisual Library Order Form Booklet Order Form Membership Application

Food Protection Trends - September 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.