SUPPORTING SMALL AND VERY SMALL U.S. MEAT/POULTRY PROCESSORS IN COMPLYING WITH USDA FSIS REGULATORY CHANGES FOR FULLY-COOKED PRODUCTS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: AFRI COMPETITIVE GRANT
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1025672
• Grant No.: 2021-68008-34196
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $299,817.00
• Proposal No.: 2020-04955
• Project Start Date: Feb 15, 2021
• Project End Date: Feb 14, 2025
• Grant Year: 2021
• Program Code: [A1701]- Critical Agricultural Research and Extension: CARE

Recipient Organization
MICHIGAN STATE UNIV
(N/A)
EAST LANSING,MI 48824

Performing Department
BIOSYSTEMS AG EGR

Non Technical Summary
Small and very small meat processors have always been part of the economic fabric of the United States, with over 5,000 such establishments currently operating under Federal jurisdiction (i.e., inspection), making up ~80% of the meat/poultry processing facilities in the country, with at least that many additional establishments operating under State and local jurisdictions. Most are in small communities and towns, providing locally-sourced food, community-centered employment, and significant contributions to the tax base. However, recent regulatory changes governing fully-cooked, ready-to-eat (RTE) meat and poultry products have created a significant burden and urgent need for scientific information and training resources to enable these small businesses to continue producing microbiologically safe products, comply with the changing regulations, and sustain viable business operations. Specifically, those changes have laid out new requirements for humidity as a critical control in cooking systems, to ensure Salmonella destruction on the surface of RTE meat/poultry products. However, at present, nearly all small and very small establishments are unable to meet the new requirements and/or do not understand why or how to implement them (given that they often lack dedicated in-house food safety personnel). Simply put, not meeting these new regulatory requirements would be economically catastrophic for small or very small meat and poultry processors. This project is specifically designed to generate scientific data to validate processes used by these firms, to translate existing and new knowledge via a broad extension/outreach/training program, and to directly support the ongoing evolution of the Federal regulations affecting small and very small meat and poultry processors.Therefore, the overall goal of this integrated research and extension project is to provide small and very small processors, and Federal, State, and local meat inspectors, with tools to support regulatory compliance, ensure product safety, and sustain and grow viable business operations. To achieve that overall goal, the project plan entails: (1) Quantitative evaluation of oven humidity monitoring solutions, (2) Salmonella-inoculated, pilot-scale cooking trials, (3) Collaborative development of training materials and a spreadsheet tool for computing process lethality, and (4) Development of novel training resources for small/very-small meat processors. The overall impact will be to improve operational sustainability of small and very small meat processors, improve implementation of future regulatory changes, and improve protection of public health.

Animal Health Component

65%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

5%

Applied

65%

Developmental

30%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
712	3260	1100	17%
712	3260	2020	17%
712	3320	1100	17%
712	3320	2020	17%
712	3520	1100	16%
712	3520	2020	16%

Knowledge Area
712 - Protect Food from Contamination by Pathogenic Microorganisms, Parasites, and Naturally Occurring Toxins;

Subject Of Investigation
3320 - Meat, beef cattle; 3260 - Poultry meat; 3520 - Meat, swine;

Field Of Science
2020 - Engineering; 1100 - Bacteriology;

Keywords

engineering

food safety

meat

poultry

processing

validation

Goals / Objectives
The overall, integrated research and extension goal of this project is to provide small and very small processors, and Federal, state, and local meat inspectors, with tools to support regulatory compliance, ensure product safety, and sustain and grow viable business operations.Specific Objectives:Compare, validate, and demonstrate the utility and reliability of multiple process/oven humidity control and measurement options suitable for small/very small meat and poultry processors.Conduct Salmonella-inoculated, pilot-scale cooking trials to validate surface lethality for products not historically processed in humidity-enhanced systems.Develop, deploy, and assess an oven-operator food safety manual and spreadsheet tool to support validation of Salmonella lethality at the core and surface of multiple ready-to-eat products cooked in different types of equipment following uniquely different processes.Develop, implement, and assess workshop materials/curriculum at 20-30 regional and national events for training small and very small processors.

Project Methods
The overall project plan closely integrates the research, demonstration, and extension/outreach/training objectives with highly collaborative work tasks across MSU and UW, leading toward successful completion of the overall goal. General approaches under each objectives will be as follows:Objective 1. We will thoroughly evaluate the knowledge and capabilities of small and very small processors to monitor and document critical product and process factors, especially humidity. To accomplish this, we will cooperatively develop a survey with with input from our other collaborators, to: (1) quantify the distribution of product types processed by AAMP member processors, (2) document the different types of cooking systems being utilized (particularly their temperature and humidity control capabilities), and (3) assess current user knowledge about the topic of surface lethality (e.g., what it is, why it is important, how it is accomplished, ways to achieve regulatory compliance). Once our survey has established the state-of-practice for humidity control and monitoring among small and very small processors, we will design a demonstration study, in which we will set-up and compare the performance of multiple high-temperature humidity measurement systems in our pilot-plant operations. From these tests, photographic/text instructions and brief instructional videos will be created, explaining the basic principles of humidity and moist-air thermodynamics, and demonstrating the basic operational principles of each measurement system, how to implement/interpret them, and the advantages/disadvantages of each.Objective 2. Multiple meat and poultry products (~8 different products) will be inoculated with a cocktail of Salmonella strains and thermally processed in pilot-scale oven systems at MSU or UW (or both, for cross-validation), to quantify the effects of process conditions and product properties on the lethality of Salmonella on the product surfaces. The purpose for these validation-type tests are to: (1) evaluate whether the current typical thermal process for each product yields the required surface lethality (6.5 or 7.0 log reductions for red meat and poultry, respectively), and (2) if not, determine what practical process modifications/adjustments might enhance the surface lethality outcome and still be easily adopted and universally applied in small and very small establishments.Objective 3. We will utilize our extensive set of existing data from Salmonella-inoculated, pilot-scale cooking trials to estimate pathogen inactivation parameters for various meat/poultry products and a range of oven conditions, using nonlinear regression techniques. Those model parameters then will be validated against the surface lethality results from the pilot-scale challenge studies in Objective 2. The resulting mathematical model for surface lethality then will be coded into a spreadsheet-based tool for computing both core and surface lethality of thermally processed meat and poultry products, based on product and surface temperature histories and process humidity.Objective 4. A multi-faceted approach will be used to disseminate the results and products from our planned work. First, a food safety manual will include textbook content as well as additional supporting items, directions regarding how to access and use the surface lethality spreadsheet calculator, and access to instructional videos to support learning of important principles, including a demonstration on how to use the calculator and step-by-step procedures for collecting thermal processing data. Subsequently, the training materials will be disseminated via regional workshops targeting small and very small processors, via a collaboration with the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP), and the efficacy of the training will be evaluated via immediate and long-term post-program evaluations, to evaluate the impact of the training on the participants' subsequent behavior.

Progress 02/15/22 to 02/14/23

Outputs
Target Audience:The target stakeholders for this project are: (1) Small and very small meat and poultry processors, defined by the USDA as establishments with 10-499 employees (small) or fewer than 10 employees or annual sales of less than $2.5M (very small). These processors are represented by the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP), which has over 1,400 member companies. (2) Regulators, represented by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Our collaborator with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) has committed to arranging multiple meetings between our team and the FSIS Office of Policy and Program Development, to ensure direct communication and maximum impact of our results on the evolution of the Appendix A guidelines. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and staff working on this project have been trained in Biosafety Level-2 research methods and have learned industry-relevant techniques for monitoring thermal process conditions and measuring product core and surface temperatures, moisture content, etc. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Updates on project activities and results have been presented at numerous industry workshops / training programs. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The third year of the project will focus on additional pilot-scale cooking trials, in which eight different representative meat products will be inoculated with an eight-strain cocktail of Salmonella and subjected to either "industry typical" or "worst case" cooking conditions, where these conditions have been designed based on data collected in the year-1 site visits and industry survey. Process humidity and product surface temperature will be monitored during these trials, and pathogen survival at the product surface will be assayed at the process endpoint. These trials will include roast beef, pasties, rotisserie chicken. The results of the above pilot-scale trials will be communicated with industry (via multiple workshops and programs), the scientific community, and directly with the regulatory agency. Additionally, these results will inform the development of an oven operators food safety manual.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? The second year for the project involved continued engagement with the North American Association of Meat Processors (NAAMP), with over 1,400 member companies, most of which are small or very small processors. Our NAAMP collaborator continues to be directly involved in the project meetings and planning, collecting information to characterize the state of operations within the industry, identifying potential new industry collaborators, and communicating key learnings from this project to the stakeholders. This active collaboration remains a key factor in the bidirectional integration of this project. The NAAMP collaborator and University of Wisconsin co-PD continued annual engagement with the key stakeholders via individual consultations and multiple in-person training and workshop events, particularly focusing on the target audience of small and very-small processors. In each case, these training events have included emphasis on factors important for maintaining microbially safe, ready-to-eat products, and on compliance with requirements of the USDA FSIS Revised Appendix A guidelines. In the prior year, industry surveys and site visits were used to collect information to characterize "typical" and "worst case" processes that are occurring in actual applications for the specific products targeted in this project (e.g., rotisserie chicken, pasties, ready-to-eat bacon, BBQ brisket, et al.), in terms of typical oven systems and operating parameters. That information was then used to design Salmonella-inoculated, pilot-scale challenge studies designed to evaluate the efficacy of those processes, focused on pathogen lethality on the surface, with the goal of filling specific scientific gaps identified by the FSIS in the Revised Appendix A guidelines. One example result from these trials was for cooking ready-to-eat bacon. Commercial cooking of bacon must achieve both a 40% yield and > 6.5 log reduction?in?Salmonella?to meet USDA FSIS ready-to-eat (RTE) requirements. However, the efficacy of Salmonella inactivation in bacon was not previously validated. Therefore, in this study, bacon slices were inoculated with an?8-strain?Salmonella?cocktail and cooked in a?microwave oven or a pilot-scale convection oven. Salmonella decreased > 6.5 log before the bacon achieved the minimum required 40% commercial yield for both cooking methods when humidity was not artificially reduced (dew point ≥ 32°C). When lean and fat portions were separated, lower Salmonella reductions (P < 0.05) were observed in the fat than in the lean portion of bacon (P < 0.05) during microwave cooking; however, the lean/fat interaction with cooking time was not significant (P > 0.05). During microwave cooking, when the maximum dew point was maintained at ≤ 26°C, Salmonella lethality was lower (P < 0.05), and 6.5 log reductions were not achieved before the required ≤ 40% yield. Overall, typical commercial processing of bacon to ≤ 40% yield likely complies with USDA FSIS expectations for Salmonella lethality. However, given the humidity effect, evaluating the humidity in industrial microwave ovens during bacon cooking may be important to ensure sufficient Salmonella lethality.

Publications

• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Randriamiarintsoa, N. 2022. Thermal Inactivation of Bacterial Pathogens under Widely Changing Moisture Conditions in Cooked Bacon and Dried Apple. M.S. thesis. Michigan State University.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Randriamiarintsoa N, Hildebrandt IM, James MK, Ryser ET, Marks BP. 2022. Salmonella inactivation in bacon using microwave or moist-air impingement oven cooking. Abstract P1-40. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the International Association for Food Protection. Pittsburgh, PA. July 31 - Aug 3, 2022.
• Type: Theses/Dissertations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Nehls, J. 2022. The Impact of Extrinsic and Intrinsic Factors Affecting the Lethality of Salmonella on the Surface of Impingement-Cooked Meat and Poultry Products. M.S. thesis. University of Wisconsin.

Progress 02/15/21 to 02/14/22

Outputs
Target Audience:The target stakeholders for this project are: Small and very small meat and poultry processors, defined by the USDA as establishments with 10-499 employees (small) or fewer than 10 employees or annual sales of less than $2.5M (very small). These processors are represented by the American Association of Meat Processors (AAMP), which has over 1,400 member companies. Regulators, represented by the USDA Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS). Our collaborator with the North American Meat Institute (NAMI) has committed to arranging multiple meetings between our team and the FSIS Office of Policy and Program Development, to ensure direct communication and maximum impact of our results on the evolution of the Appendix A guidelines. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Students and staff working on this project have been trained in Biosafety Level-2 research methods and have learned industry-relevant techniques for monitoring thermal process conditions and measuring product core and surface temperatures, moisture content, etc. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Updates on project activities and results have been presented at four different industry workshops / training programs. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?The second year of the project will focus on pilot-scale cooking trials, in which eight different representative meat products will be inoculated with an eight-strain cocktail of Salmonella and subjected to either "industry typical" or "worst case" cooking conditions, where these conditions have been designed based on data collected in the year-1 site visits and industry survey. Process humidity and product surface temperature will be monitoring continuously during these trials, and pathogen survival at the product surface will be assayed at multiple points during the process. The tests have been designed specifically to: (1) Fill "scientific gaps" that have been documented as part of the USDA FSIS Cooking Guideline for Meat and Poultry Products (Revised Appendix A), in which we are testing whether "industry-typical" process conditions could be considered "safe harbor" conditions under which sufficient pathogen lethality is achieved on the product surfaces, and (2) Identifying whether there are lower limits of those conditions (especially humidity) under which sufficient lethality cannot be achieved. The results of the above pilot-scale trials will be communicated with industry (via multiple workshops and programs), the scientific community, and directly with the regulatory agency. Additionally, these results will inform the oven operators food safety manual that we will begin drafting in year 2 (Obj 3).

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? A key element of this project is the direct engagement of the North American Association of Meat Processors (NAAMP), with over 1,400 member companies, most of which are small or very small processors. NAAMP was directly involved in the first year of the project, collecting information to characterize the state of operations within the industry, identifying potential industry collaborators, and documenting specific product and processing conditions that are being used in design of the pilot-scale cooking trials in this project. Surveys were collected from meat processors (n = 39) at national and state industry shows/meetings. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by members of the project team with company representatives to document the types of products they were thermally processing. Emphasis was placed on the eight products included in this project plan (BBQ beef brisket, rotisserie chicken, beef jerky, pasties, fully cooked bacon, smoked sausage, and beef roast). After ensuring the company was producing products of interest, the types of cooking systems being utilized were documented, along with temperature and humidity control capabilities. Finally, the survey concluded with an assessment of current company knowledge about the topic of surface lethality (e.g., what it is, why it is important, how it is accomplished, ways to achieve regulatory compliance). Of the processors surveyed, there was a high representation of focus products beef jerky, smoked sausage, bacon, and beef roast (n≥20); moderate representation of BBQ beef brisket and dry sausage (n=14-15); and low representation of rotisserie chicken (n=3) and pasties (n=1). The eight products of focus constituted the majority of processor's meat products, with other products including smoked poultry, various cooked sausages, and pork products. Almost all the processors (n=38) used a smokehouse for at least one product, with the most common types of smokehouses being electric or gas powered. Processors described their understanding on the impact of process humidity or the concept of surface lethality from low (n=7, 13) to high (n=11, 15). While current research demonstrates that meat surface desiccation promotes pathogen survival, 16 processors indicated that they are unaware of the impact of surface desiccation on pathogen survival or thought that it enhances pathogen inactivation. Despite the additional emphasis of surface lethality and process humidity included in the most recent USDA FSIS Appendix A revision, only 4 processors believed that their products have a surface lethality requirement, further supporting the urgent need for the outreach/training materials that will be developed in this project. After the survey data were analyzed, the project team conducted site visits at six meat processing facilities in four different states. These site visits yielded information about specific process conditions that are being used to replicate "typical" and "worst case" processes in the pathogen-inoculated, pilot-scale cooking trials in this project. Additionally, the site visits documented the type and character of process humidity and controlled being used in the various oven systems at these processors, which is a critical element of compliance with the new USDA FSIS Appendix A requirements, and therefore a key target in our workplan for Objective 1 of this project.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Sindelar, J.J. 2022. Lethality and Stabilization Using Appendix A. January 2022. Iowa State University Cured Meats Short Course. [53 participants].
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Sindelar, J.J. 2022. Lethality & Stabilization Following USDA, FSIS Appendix A & B Guidelines. April 2022. Wisconsin Association of Meat Processors Convention. [97 attendees].
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Sindelar, J.J. 2022. Update on the December 2021 Appendix A and B Guidance Issued by USDA-FSIS. May 2022. Refrigerated Foods Association. Virtual meeting [67 participants].
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2022 Citation: Sindelar, J.J. 2022. Lethality Following USDA, FSIS Appendix A Guidelines. June 2022. Meat Snacks Short Course. [48 attendees].