Compliance with recent food hygiene legislation and microbiological monitoring in cooked meat product plants

Abstract

A combined risk assessment and microbiological sampling programme was used to study compliance with recent food legislation in cooked meat product plants. Eight key stages in production were assessed- raw material delivery and storage, raw material preparation, cooking, cooling, storage, meat slicing (where appropriate), distribution, and finally general areas relevant to the overall process. Meat products, either pies or cooked joints, and a variety of environmental sites including wiping cloths were examined. Although each food business was different, a number of common problem areas were identified. It was evident that some proprietors had not implemented a hazard-based control system. There was a strong link between microbial results from environmental sites and visual inspections in premises manufacturing pork pies, but no such association was found in those producing meat joints. The combination of microbiology and hazard analysis proved helpful to Environmental Health Officers in assessing compliance in these premises.