HACCP: An Integrated Approach to Assuring Safety in Micrbiolgic

From the Preface
The microbiological safety of the food supply, particularly meat, has become an increasingly important concern to the public, and is a factor affecting international trade. One of the systems for the control of foodborne pathogens that is being recommended is the implementation of hazard analysis of critical control points (HACCP). This is a practical approach to ensuring the safety and quality of meat and poultry which is being adopted by the food industry worldwide. The application of HACCP also has the approval of government institutions in the United States and within the European Union which are involved in the development and implementation of safety controls within the food industry. Both industry and governments view HACCP as the most practicable and cost effective way of controlling food safety.
This publication contains papers presented at a conference held in Dublin on March 23-24, 1994. The objective of this conference was two-fold. The first was to provide a "farm to fork" overview of how HACCP techniques can be used throughout the entire food production-manufacturing-distribution-consumption chain to help control foodborne pathogens of public concern in meat and poultry. The second was to use these presentations as the basis for identifying the knowledge and research that will be needed in the future to use HACCP to develop practical food safety systems.

Table of Contents:
Transport and related stresses on the incidence of human pathogens in pigmeat and poultry Farm management practices on the incidence of human enteric pathogens in cattle Vaccine and biological control techniques to control pathogens in animals used for food Animal identification systems in controlling the spread of pathogens Rapid DNA based pathogen detection methods in the development of HACCP systems Baseline data on the microbiota of meats Indicator systems in HACCP operations Animal health and the veterinary food hygienist in the control of meatborne infections Carcass decontamination systems for controlling pathogens on the surfaces of meat animal carcasses Irradiation to kill enteric pathogens on meat and poultry Time/Temperature integrators and predictive microbiology assessing temperature abuse on meat and poultry products Relationships between pathogen growth and the general microbiota on raw and processed meat and poultry Consumer information to enhance safe handling of meat and poultry products Linking microbiological criteria for foods with quantitative risk assessment Epidemiology and costs of diseases in relation to meat and meat products Index