Effect of Federal Inspection on Louisiana Wild-Caught Catfish Industry, Prevalence of Salmonella, and Microbial Characteristics of Raw Wild-Caught Catfish Fillets

Abstract

The U.S. is one of the largest catfish producers in the world. Louisiana is the leading producer of wild-caught catfish. Historically, the FDA inspected all seafood products; however, in 2008, congress moved the Siluriformes Order fish inspection to the USDA/FSIS. Full enforcement of the rule began on September 1, 2017. This study assessed the impact of USDA Siluriformes fish regulation on small Louisiana wild-caught catfish processors and determined the microbiological quality and Salmonella prevalence in raw fillets. For the assessment, nine facilities participated in the study. Pre- and post-enforcement surveys were used to identify whether facilities had established pre-requisite programs and record-keeping associated with sanitation, HACCP, food defense, and product recall. Also, the processors’ attitude about the change in regulations was analyzed. For the microbiological quality and Salmonella spp. prevalence, catfish samples were collected once a month for two years. Samples were evaluated for APC, coliforms, E. coli , Staphylococcus aureus , and Salmonella spp. At the pre-enforcement survey, only one facility had a HACCP plan developed, but it was not implemented. After one year of full enforcement, all the facilities developed and implemented a HACCP plan to process fresh catfish. Also, 78% of the processors reported a reduction in the amount of catfish processed due to limits in hours of operation and loss of fishermen. For the microbiological quality, the counts for APC, E. coli , coliforms, and S. aureus were 5.01±0.70, 0.58±0.89, 2.16±0.77, and 0.73±1.02 Log CFU/g, respectively. Additionally, 5.3% of the samples was confirmed positive to Salmonella spp. The findings of this study showed that after USDA enforcement, facilities improved food safety program documentation; however, the processing practices did not change. The microbial quality of the catfish fillets was within the acceptable levels in accordance with the ICMSF.

Through the Looking Glass: Genome, Phenome, and Interactome of Salmonella enterica

“…Not all uses of serotyping are for epidemiological research or to establish the source of a foodborne outbreak. Many companies, agricultural commodity producers, exporters and importers, and service laboratories want to test feeds for animals, food for consumption, and production environments for purposes of in-house quality control and to assure the safety of their product prior to entering the market [ 42 , 43 , 44 ]. Enhanced screening regimens that are not regulated are used to provide early warning of emerging problems [ 45 ].…”