A Systematic Review of Beef Meat Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Models

Abstract

Each year in Europe, meat is associated with 2.3 million foodborne illnesses, with a high contribution from beef meat. Many of these illnesses are attributed to pathogenic bacterial contamination and inadequate operations leading to growth and/or insufficient inactivation occurring along the whole farm-to-fork chain. To ensure consumer health, decision-making processes in food safety rely on Quantitative Microbiological Risk Assessment (QMRA) with many applications in recent decades. The present study aims to conduct a critical analysis of beef QMRAs and to identify future challenges. A systematic approach, the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, was used to collate beef QMRA models, identify steps of the farm-to-fork chain considered, and analyze inputs and outputs included as well as modelling methods. A total of 2343 articles were collected and 67 were selected. These studies focused mainly on western countries and considered Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Salmonella spp. pathogens. Future challenges were identified and included the need of whole-chain assessments, centralization of data collection processes, and improvement of model interoperability through harmonization. The present analysis can serve as a source of data and information to inform QMRA framework for beef meat and will help the scientific community and food safety authorities to identify specific monitoring and research needs.

Microbial Decontamination of Beef Carcass Surfaces by Lactic Acid, Acetic Acid, and Trisodium Phosphate Sprays

“…Beef carcasses can be easily contaminated with various pathogenic bacteria providing from the surrounding environment. In this regard, within several slaughtering procedures, including dressing, evisceration, processing, and storage, the sources of the microbial contamination can be considered: the skin, feet, stomach, intestinal contents, hands, clothes of employees, equipment, and water used for washing carcasses, as well as dust and air [ 1 – 4 ].…”

“…In the case of the existence of extensive contamination or abusive conditions that allow bacteria to reproduce usually increases the risk for the presence of pathogenic bacteria and formation of toxins in a food matrix. In response to that situation, regulatory authorities, researchers, and food safety managers in beef industry addressed food safety concerns by developing a variety of methods that are now implemented or are being further developed, in order to improve the microbiological quality [ 2 , 4 , 9 – 11 ]. In this regard, as has been suggested by several authors [ 9 , 11 , 12 ], the using of chemical decontaminants can be a promising tool.…”

Food-Borne Disease Prevention and Risk Assessment

“…The present study of Tesson, Federighi, Cummins, Mota, Guillou, and Boué [22], entitled A Systematic Review of Beef Meat Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Models, was to conduct a critical analysis of beef QMRAs to help identify present and future contamination challenges in beef production. The authors' review was comprehensive with 67 publications selected, but the focus was limited to studies in western countries and for a limited number of pathogens, mainly Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Salmonella spp.…”

Taking a lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic: Preventing the future outbreaks of viral zoonoses through a multi-faceted approach

“…The production of cultured meat offers a number of advantages. Firstly, the production process is relatively sterile and should significantly decrease the issue of microbial contamination, which is still a challenge for the meat industry and occurs mainly at the farm level ( Tesson et al, 2020 ), although the risks of meat spoilage during distribution would still need to be taken into account ( Nychas et al, 2008 ). Importantly, the risk of the emergence and rapid spread of livestock pathogens (such as the ASF virus) that are a threat to food security is non-existent in the case of cultured meat.…”