27 - HACCP in the processing of fresh meat

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It became apparent that procedures for implementing Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) systems of assured efficacy at meat packing plants were completely lacking. Regulatory authorities have elaborated procedures for HACCP system implementation that are based largely on traditional inspection practices; that is, on the assumption that the microbiological performance of a process can be decided by inspection of product and equipment for visible contamination, with the provision that the process is documented and performed in accordance with all other requirements of the regulatory authority. As a result, the systems for supposedly ensuring meat safety that are being implemented at meat packing plants are not HACCP systems; they are quality management systems for ensuring the quality of compliance with regulatory requirements. Such systems will function to ensure meat safety only if microbiological safety is ensured as a consequence of meeting the regulatory requirements. This chapter describes an alternative approach to HACCP implementation at meat packing plants. A complete HACCP system should include procedures for controlling physical and chemical, as well as microbiological hazards and the same people may well be responsible for ensuring the control of the three types of hazard. However, physical and chemical hazards will not be considered as they are generally of lesser concern and can be controlled by more usual procedures than the microbiological hazards that arise in meat plant processes.