HACCP application during different processing stages of beef fillet with special references to corrective action

Abstract

Here, in this study HACCP program was applied for the production of beef fillet in an Egyptian hotel and the microbialload before and after application was compared. The aerobic plate count monitored before and after application ofcorrective action during different successive production stages of beef fillet in tested hotel to examine the frequency ofcontamination. The mean values of Aerobic plate count before application of corrective actions were 20.47 ± 7.01, 71.33± 15.27, 680.0 ± 385.53, 528.67 ±255.39, 24.33 ± 8.09, and 24.33 ± 8.09 (CFU/gm) for the examined frozen, thawed,formed, salted, cooked and served meat, respectively. After application of corrective action, the aerobic plate countdeclined to be 13.80 ± 4.20, 48.00 ± 7.32, 118.67± 26.97, 92.67 ± 20.34, 7.13 ± 1.95, and <10 in the examined frozen,thawed, formed, salted, cooked and served meat, respectively. The reduction percentages for the above examined sampleswere 32.5%, 32.7, %82.5%, 82.4%, and 70.6% and 100%, respectively. It is noticed that meat meals can be contaminatedby several ways such as incorrect thawing, inadequate cleaning and sanitation for utensils or cross contamination aftercooking resulting in higher contamination with microorganisms. No food borne pathogens of public health hazardsdetected during this study. This results shows the significant importance of HACCP program for prevention and controlof pathogenic and spoilage microorganisms.