Food Safety

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The last year was one for the record books in many ways. Never before had our nation’s meat and poultry processors been challenged to meet consumer demand in such intense and unorthodox ways.

The Biden Administration officially took charge of the executive functions of government on Jan. 20, Inauguration Day. What that will that mean for the meat processing industry is becoming increasingly clear as President Joe Biden’s nominations are announced and policy positions are clarified. 

Sell by. Use by. Best by. No matter how it’s defined, shelf life is a key value driver for highly perishable meat and poultry products. 

Keeping meat and poultry safe during the grinding, mixing and stuffing processes can be difficult.

The most important thing small meat plant owners and managers need to be concerned with in meat processing is SAFETY. That includes food safety, employee safety and customer safety.

In this episode, Francisco Najar-Villirreal speaks with Dr. Sara Gragg of Kansas State University. Dr. Gragg received her Ph.D. in Animal Science from Texas Tech University in 2012.

When it comes to reducing Salmonella prevalence at processing, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data show the industry is making progress.

Salmonella Reading is not usually a pathogen of concern, however when an outbreak does occur it garners plenty of public attention. There have been two recent S. Reading outbreaks in North America. The most recent outbreak occurred in 2019 and was linked to contaminated ground turkey products.¹