No abstract

This study analyzes the National Residue Program (NRP) of the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), data for the years 1983-1998 to determine the effectiveness of all three microbiological screen tests that were developed and used by the FSIS to control antimicrobial residues in food animals. The Swab Test On Premises (STOP) was the first screen test introduced in slaughterhouses, followed by the Calf Antibiotic Sulfonamide Test (CAST) and the Fast Antimicrobial Screen Test (FAST). The data for STOP indicates that during 1983-1998, the rate of food animal carcasses with violative levels of antimicrobial residues reduced from 2.33% to 0.45% under the monitoring plan and under the surveillance plan, the rate reduced from 55.1% to 0.56%. Similarly, the data for CAST indicates that the rate of calf carcasses with violative levels of antimicrobial residue also declined significantly during those years. Because of its higher sensitivity and shorter analytical time, the use of FAST started in 1995. By 1999, it had practically replaced the use of STOP and CAST in bovine species. The use of only one test such as FAST instead of different tests has removed confusion for testing different species of food animals and thereby has enhanced the efficiency of the NRP.

We recently reviewed the Food Safety and Inspection Service's (FSIS's) inspection procedures for lambs. As a result, FSIS published a Federal Register notice informing the public of its intent to change from an inspection system that requires extensive carcass palpation to an inspection system that requires no carcass palpation for lambs. This decision was based on the following three points. (i) Extensive carcass palpation in lambs does not routinely aid in the detection of food safety hazards that result in meat-borne illnesses. (ii) Hands are capable of spreading or adding contamination to the carcasses. (iii) FSIS inspection systems must reflect science-based decisions as they pertain to meat-borne illnesses consistent with a Pathogen Reduction/Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point environment.

Twenty-five infectious agents transmissible to man through consumption of undercooked beef were prioritized using an adaptation of a health planning method (Hanlon Method). Each infectious agent was numerically scored based on potential hazard and potential exposure to man using the formula: (A+B)E, = Priority Rating (P). Factors "A" and "B" reflect the potential hazard (H) and include elements for: susceptible population groups, incident cases per year, duration of illness, case specific mortality, and symptomatology. Elements were scored on scales ranging from 1-10 and a hazard value for each infectious agent determined by adding the individual element scores. Factor "E" represents the exposure potential and is a multiplier since hazard is conditionally dependent on exposure. Exposure potential therefore significantly affects the overall priority rating. Exposure elements include: infectious dose, agent 18 JOURNAL OF AGROMEDICINE detectability by current inspection methods, presence of the infectious form, and prevalence on or in undercooked beef. Factor "E" scores were standardized to values on a range of 0.5 to 1.5, yielding the value E,. Using the formula, a final priority rating for each infectious agent was determined. This priority rating process, termed the Pathogen Evaluation System, will facilitate future risk assessment of slaughter inspection procedures. As epidemiologic and microbial ecology data for each agent becomes more defined, quantitative accuracy of the priority ranking will increase. [Article copies uvailublefvom The Huworth Document Delivery Service: 1-800-342-9678.]