Comprehensive Evaluation and Implementation of Improvement Actions in Butcher Shops

Hygienic sanitary risk and microbiological quality of meat and meat-contact surfaces in traditional butcher shops and retail establishments- lessons from a developing country

In this study, we determined both hygienic sanitary risk and microbiological quality of raw meat and meat-contact surfaces in butcher shops and retails from the North Governorate in Lebanon. A total of 55 samples were analyzed (36 raw meat and 19 environmental swabs). The overall counts of pathogenic bacteria indicate high levels of contamination of both minced meat and contact surfaces. Presumptive Salmonella and Listeria were found in the samples. Salmonella spp. was observed in 63.8% of all cuts, of whom 41.6% is detected from butcher shops' meat. L. monocytogenes was present in 47.2% of meat from butcher shops and 30.5% of retails. Total aerobic count followed by S. aureus and fecal coliforms were the most detected pathogens in environmental swabs. Most visited facilities presented moderate hygienic sanitary risk, with average scores of 55.25 in butchers' shops and 65.25 in retail. Findings highlight the necessity for governmental surveillance and implementation of food safety laws.

Quality and Safety of Fresh Beef in Retail: A Review

ABSTRACT

This study aimed to review the scientific literature on the quality and safety of beef sold in retail, methodologies used for quality evaluation, and proposed interventions for the sector. Bibliographical research was performed to identify scientific articles using the electronic databases Ovid, PubMed, Scielo, LILACS, Scopus, and Embase. Thirty-three articles were included in the review. Given the different dimensions of the studies, the results were organized into three categories, according to the following approaches: food, environment, and handlers; consumers and selection criteria; and intervention strategies for the retail sector. The applied methodological strategies revealed inadequate conditions and neglect in several processing and operation stages that are fundamental to the maintenance of quality standards. The results confirm a worrying scenario and the presence of risks to consumers. Based on the studies evaluated, it is necessary to emphasize consumer concern about the importance of the integrated information chain-all stages involved in the production process and meat distribution for retail meat stores. The reported conditions from different studies indicate the need for interventions with a view to prevention of health risks, continued training of food handlers, and transformation of evidenced realities. In this context, it is possible to point out the predominance of diagnostic studies, in contrast with interventional studies focused on the training and qualification of food handlers.

HIGHLIGHTS

Analysis of scenarios to reduce the probability of acquiring hemolytic uremic syndrome associated with beef consumption

The objective of this study was to develop a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model to evaluate potential risk mitigation strategies to reduce the probability of acquiring hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) associated with beef consumption in Argentina. Five scenarios were simulated to evaluate the effect of interventions on the probability of acquiring HUS from Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC)-contaminated ground beef and commercial hamburger consumption. These control strategies were chosen based on previous results of the sensitivity analysis of a baseline QMRA model ( Brusa et al., 2020). The application of improvement actions in abattoirs not applying Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) for STEC would result 7.6 times lower in the probability that consumers acquired HUS from ground beef consumption, while the implementation of improvements in butcher shops would lead to a smaller reduction. In abattoirs applying HACCP for STEC, the risk of acquiring HUS from commercial hamburger consumption was significantly reduced. Treatment with 2% lactic acid, hot water and irradiation reduced 4.5, 3.5 and 93.1 times the risk of HUS, respectively. The most efficient interventions, in terms of case reduction, being those that are applied in the initial stages of the meat chain.

[Microbiological quality of fresh ground beef and detection of pathogens in environmental samples taken from butcher shops in the city of Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina]

The aim of this work was to evaluate the hygienic-sanitary conditions of butcher shops in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province, by estimating the risk based on good manufacturing and hygiene practices, through surveys of the establishments. The analysis was performed using a scale of 1-100, and classifying them as high risk (0-40), moderate risk (41-70) or low risk (71-100). The presence of Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) from both, ground beef and environmental samples such as countertop, cleaver, mincer and butcher's hands, taken at butcher shops was also evaluated. Sampling was performed only once and immediately refrigerated and transported to the laboratory for analysis. All butcher shops evaluated (100) were classified as "low risk" with good hygienic-sanitary conditions. However, 75% of the ground beef samples analyzed did not meet at least one of the microbiological criteria established in the Código Alimentario Argentino [Argentine Food Code], article 255. We propose to establish a strategy to identify deviations and implement a plan for continuous improvement in butcher shops of Tandil city.

Identification of the gamma irradiation dose applied to ground beef that reduces Shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli but has no impact on consumer acceptance

The aims of the present study were: a) to estimate the minimal dose of gamma irradiation required to reduce 5 log CFU/g of native O157 and non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli population in ground beef samples inoculated with high inoculum; b) to assess its effectiveness in samples with low inoculum and 3) to evaluate consumer acceptance. Based on the results, 1 kGy was estimated as the minimal dose of gamma irradiation required to reduce 5 log CFU/g of STEC in ground beef. However, when samples with low inoculum level were subjected to 1 kGy, 3.9% of the samples were positive for stx and eae genes after an enrichment step. Consumer acceptance analysis was carried out with samples subjected to 2.5 kGy and no significant differences were found between irradiated and control samples. Therefore, 2.5 kGy was identified as the gama irradiation dose that reduces STEC but has no impact on consumer acceptance of ground beef.

Quantitative risk assessment of haemolytic uremic syndrome associated with beef consumption in Argentina

We developed a quantitative microbiological risk assessment (QMRA) of haemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) associated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC)-contaminated beef (intact beef cuts, ground beef and commercial hamburgers) in children under 15 years of age from Argentina. The QMRA was used to characterize STEC prevalence and concentration levels in each product through the Argentinean beef supply chain, including cattle primary production, cattle transport, processing and storage in the abattoir, retail and home preparation, and consumption. Median HUS probability from beef cut, ground beef and commercial hamburger consumption was <10-15, 5.4x10-8 and 3.5x10-8, respectively. The expected average annual number of HUS cases was 0, 28 and 4, respectively. Risk of infection and HUS probability were sensitive to the type of abattoir, the application or not of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) for STEC (HACCP-STEC), stx prevalence in carcasses and trimmings, storage conditions from the abattoir to retailers and home, the joint consumption of salads and beef products, and cooking preference. The QMRA results showed that the probability of HUS was higher if beef cuts (1.7x) and ground beef (1.2x) were from carcasses provided by abattoirs not applying HACCP-STEC. Thus, the use of a single sanitary standard that included the application of HACCP-STEC in all Argentinean abattoirs would greatly reduce HUS incidence. The average number of annual HUS cases estimated by the QMRA (n = 32) would explain about 10.0% of cases in children under 15 years per year in Argentina. Since other routes of contamination can be involved, including those not related to food, further research on the beef production chain, other food chains, person-to-person transmission and outbreak studies should be conducted to reduce the impact of HUS on the child population of Argentina.

Trade and safety issues of raw beef from the countryside of Bahia state, Brazil

Background: Brazil is one of the world's largest meat exporters. However, there is a paradox in this situation due to existing non-inspected meat trade and technical-sanitary failures in retail marketing. Design and methods: This study aimed at characterizing the issues of trade, food safety and quality of raw beef in the street market of a municipality in the state of Bahia. An exploratory, quantitative and census study was carried out, at 17 raw beef vending locations. A questionnaire was administered and meat samples were collected (n=34), which were submitted to a physicochemical assessment, color analysis and microbiological analyses. Results: Meat sellers were between 20 and 64 years of age, predominantly males (82.4%), with limited education and without professional training (64.7%). Medians for temperature and pH in the small butcher shops samples were 18.10ºC and 5.75 respectively, and 21.80ºC and 5.50, in small supermarkets samples. The difference in pH was significant (p<0.05). The filtration test suggested quality changes in 17.65% of the samples. No frauds were detected. Total coliform count medians were 4.90 and 4.78 log CFU/g, for the samples taken from butcher shops and supermarkets, respectively. E. coli was identified in approximately 40.0% of the samples. Salmonella spp. were confirmed in two samples collected in the butcher shops. There was a significant association between inadequate storage conditions and microorganism counts (p<0.02). Conclusions: The results evidenced a meat supply with preservation failures and non-compliance with hygiene requirements, constituting a consumers' health hazard, not in line with an agroexporting country model.

Prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli from broilers at conventional and kosher abattoirs and retail stores

We studied and compared the prevalence of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in chicken carcasses from conventional and kosher broiler abattoirs and retail stores. The prevalence of thermotolerant Campylobacter-positive carcasses was 94.0 (kosher) and 32.0% (conventional) (p<0.0001), while the prevalence of samples contaminated with C. jejuni, C. coli and simultaneously with both species was 36.0, 2.0 and 56.0% (kosher) and 26.0, 4.0 and 2.0% (conventional) (p<0.0001), respectively. Samples of chicken carcasses (n=25) and food contact surfaces (tables, n=25; knives, n=25) from 25 retails were collected and risk quantification was performed. Retails were categorized as high-risk (n=11), moderate-risk (n=11) and low-risk (n=3). Nineteen (76.0%) carcasses, 20 (80.0%) tables and 18 (72.0%) knives were Campylobacter-positive. Retails and abattoirs proved to be sources of carcass contamination with Campylobacter spp. Carcasses from kosher abattoirs were mostly contaminated with Campylobacter spp., whereas C. coli was the most prevalent species isolated from carcasses in retail stores.

Meat Safety in Northern Tanzania: Inspectors' and Slaughter Workers' Risk Perceptions and Management

Through a social scientific lens, this paper considers the risk perceptions and "risk-based decision-making" of two key groups in a northern Tanzanian context: (1) frontline government meat inspectors and health officers charged with ensuring that red meat sold commercially is safe for people to consume, and (2) the workers who slaughter and process cattle and red meat prior to its sale in rural butcheries. In contrast to techno-scientific understandings of disease risk and "rational" approaches to its management, this paper foregrounds the role of social, economic and institutional context in shaping the perceptions and practices around meat safety of these actors whose daily, close proximity to meat means they play a significant role in mitigating potential meat-borne disease. We show how limited resources, and a combination of scientific and local knowledge and norms result in "situated expertise" and particular forms of risk perception and practice which both enhance and compromise meat safety in different ways. Actors' shared concerns with what is visible, ensures that visibly unsafe or abnormal meat is excluded from sale, and that infrastructure and meat is kept "clean" and free of certain visible contaminants such as soil or, on occasion, feces. While such contaminants serve as a good proxy for pathogen presence, meat inspectors and especially slaughter workers were much less aware of or concerned with invisible pathogens that may compromise meat safety. The role of process and meat handling did not figure very strongly in their concerns. Microorganisms such as Salmonella and Campylobacter, which can easily be transferred onto meat and persist in slaughter and meat sale environments, went unacknowledged. Although health officers expressed more concern with hygiene and meat handling, their influence over slaughter process and butchery operations was unclear. Ultimately, recognizing the perceptions and practices of frontline actors who engage with meat, and the ways in which social, material and institutional realities shape these, is important for understanding how decisions about risk and meat safety are made in the complexity and context of everyday life, and thus for finding effective ways to support them to further enhance their work.

Evaluation of intervention measures at different stages of the production chain in Argentinian exporting abattoirs

Antimicrobial treatments could help to decrease the transmission of microorganisms to beef carcasses and abattoir environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions in reducing Shiga toxin genes ( stx1 and stx2) presence in a commercial abattoir. Intervention measures included the application of electrolytically generated hypochlorous acid to steer pens (experiment 1), chlorinated water, electrolytically generated hypochlorous acid, and isoclor to steer pens (experiment 2), electrolytically generated hypochlorous acid to knocking pens (experiment 3), and aqueous ozone and electrolytically generated hypochlorous acid onto beef carcasses (experiment 4). Detection of stx in samples was performed with BAX® System Real-Time PCR Assay. Our results showed that treatment with pressurized electrolytically generated hypochlorous acid and isoclor were effective to reduce stx presence from hides on steer pens. Although there is no single strategy to ensure the reduction of stx presence in a commercial abattoir, the combined application of several antimicrobial interventions would be ideal.

Recent Advances in Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Research in Latin America

Pathogenic Escherichia coli are known to be a common cause of diarrheal disease and a frequently occurring bacterial infection in children and adults in Latin America. Despite the effort to combat diarrheal infections, the south of the American continent remains a hot spot for infections and sequelae associated with the acquisition of one category of pathogenic E. coli, the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). This review will focus on an overview of the prevalence of different STEC serotypes in human, animals and food products, focusing on recent reports from Latin America outlining the recent research progress achieved in this region to combat disease and endemicity in affected countries and to improve understanding on emerging serotypes and their virulence factors. Furthermore, this review will highlight the progress done in vaccine development and treatment and will also discuss the effort of the Latin American investigators to respond to the thread of STEC infections by establishing a multidisciplinary network of experts that are addressing STEC-associated animal, human and environmental health issues, while trying to reduce human disease. Regardless of the significant scientific contributions to understand and combat STEC infections worldwide, many significant challenges still exist and this review has focus in the Latin American efforts as an example of what can be accomplished when multiple groups have a common goal.

Development and In-House Validation of a Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for the Detection of Listeria monocytogenes in Meat

Listeriosis is a foodborne disease caused by Listeria monocytogenes. The aims of this work were to develop and validate an in-house real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the detection of L. monocytogenes, and to determine its prevalence in raw ground beef samples from 53 butcheries that also sell ready-to-eat foods. One set of primers and one hydrolysis probe were designed for hly gene detection and then challenged with pure strains. The detection was successful for all L. monocytogenes strains analyzed and negative for all non-L. monocytogenes strains (detection limit, 10 colony forming unit [CFU]/mL). Inclusivity, exclusivity, and analytical accuracy were 100%. L. monocytogenes was detected in 41.5% of raw ground beef samples from the 53 butcheries analyzed. This RT-PCR may be a valuable method for rapid detection of L. monocytogenes in meat.

Isolation and characterization of non-O157 Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli from beef carcasses, cuts and trimmings of abattoirs in Argentina

Several foods contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) are associated with human diseases. Some countries have established microbiological criteria for non-O157 STEC, thus, the absence of serogroups O26, O45, O103, O104, O111, O121, and O145 in sprouts from the European Union or ground beef and beef trimmings from the United States is mandatory. While in Argentina screening for O26, O103, O111, O145 and O121 in ground beef, ready-to-eat food, sausages and vegetables is mandatory, other countries have zero-tolerance for all STEC in chilled beef. The aim of this study was to provide data on the prevalence of non-O157 STEC isolated from beef processed in eight Argentinean cattle slaughterhouses producing beef for export and local markets, and to know the non-O157 STEC profiles through strain characterization and genotypic analysis. Samples (n = 15,965) from 3,205 beef carcasses, 9,570 cuts and 3,190 trimmings collected between March and September 2014 were processed in pools of five samples each. Pools of samples (n = 3,193) from 641 carcasses, 1,914 cuts and 638 trimming were analyzed for non-O157 STEC isolation according to ISO/CEN 13136:2012. Of these, 37 pools of carcasses (5.8%), 111 pools of cuts (5.8%) and 45 pools of trimmings (7.0%) were positive for non-O157 STEC. STEC strains (n = 200) were isolated from 193 pools of samples. The most prevalent serotypes were O174:H21, O185:H7, O8:H19, O178:H19 and O130:H11, and the most prevalent genotypes were stx2c(vh-b) and stx2a/saa/ehxA. O103:H21 strain was eae-positive and one O178:H19 strain was aggR/aaiC-positive. The prevalence of non-O157 STEC in beef carcasses reported here was low. None of the non-O157 STEC strains isolated corresponded to the non-O157 STEC serotypes and virulence profiles isolated from human cases in Argentina in the same study period. The application of microbiological criteria for each foodstuff should be determined by risk analysis in order to have a stringent monitoring system. Likewise, zero-tolerance intervention measures should be applied in beef, together with GMP and HACCP. Further, collaborative efforts for risk assessment, management and communication are extremely important to improve the safety of foodstuffs.