The meat industry has a very successful track record of controlling Listeria. In the U.S., the meat industry has not issued a Listeria recall due to illness from a federally inspected product since 2002.
Something as simple as improper care, cleaning and handling of uniforms and garments can lead to product contamination by introducing a microbial or foreign material risk to product. Not to be taken lightly, proper apparel care has become a part of many processors’ culture.
The headlines — “Horse Meat Scandal Rocks the EU” or “Feds Indict Four in Salmonella Outbreak” — demonstrate it clearly: Food safety and quality issues and the responses to them are at an all-time high.
An examination of a Salmonella Heidelberg outbreak linked to ground turkey illustrates that health authorities must be more aggressive in their efforts to detect and respond to foodborne illnesses.
Apparently, the cure for nasty foodborne pathogens has been hiding in our yogurt all along. Lactic acid, which is a product of nature and dissolves without any chemical residue, is one of many natural acids fighting the good fight against pathogens on carcasses today.
A somewhat unusual aspect to "cured" natural and organic processed meats is that nitrate and nitrite cannot be added as ingredients, because "preservatives" are not permitted in natural and organic foods. This has resulted in alternative meat-curing processes that utilize natural sources of nitrate, typically celery juice concentrate or powder.