Food Act Report 2009/2010 - SA Health - SA.Gov.au

Appendix 9A Survey to Assess the Microbiological Safety ofSliced Meats.Aims and Scope of the InvestigationThis was the first year of a five-year survey plan to assess the incidence of Listeria monocytogenes in ready to eat meatsavailable through retail outlets in South Australia.In recent times, manufacturers of vacuum packaged ready-to-eat meats have been subjected to comprehensiveListeria control programs administered by Biosecurity SA. This survey is also intended to determine the effectiveness ofthese Listeria control programs.Ready-to-eat meats (smallgoods) were purchased from supermarkets and specialty and gourmet stores. Products werepresented for sale in three different ways: pre-sliced and pre-packaged; pre-sliced at a deli and wrapped on demand;or sliced and wrapped on demand at a deli.The results were compared against with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) and the FoodStandards Australia New Zealand Guidelines for the microbiological examination of ready-to-eat foods. Additionallythe Recall Guidelines for Packaged Ready-to-Eat Foods found to contain Listeria monocytogenes at point of sale wereused as a reference for consideration of follow up activities to be undertaken should Listeria monocytogenes be foundin any of the samples.Background to the surveyListeriosis is a rare, but very serious, food borne infection that affects vulnerable groups of people; that is those whoare immunocompromised, pregnant women and their unborn babies, and the elderly. In South Australia there havebeen 14 confirmed cases of Listeriosis in the last three years.The very low infection rate does not reflect the severity of the disease which can cause premature abortion and deathin vulnerable populations. Additionally, the disease has a very long incubation period making it difficult to identify asingle causal agent.In the year 2008/09 Listeria monocytogenes was implicated in 32% of all national recalls.While manufacturers of vacuum packaged ready-to-eat meats are required to maintain Listeria control programs,there is little data to identify the effect of these programs in the retail sector and additionally how well the retailsector manages and controls the risk of cross-contamination in ready–to-eat food prior to sale.Standards and GuidelinesThe Food Act 2001 makes it an offence to sell food that is unsafe or unsuitable for human consumption. The Codesets standards for food safety, composition, chemical and microbiological limits.Standard 1.6.1 establishes microbiological limits for specific pathogens in certain foods, including Listeriamonocytogenes in packaged, cooked, cured/salted meats as set out in Table 1.Food Micro-organism n c m MPackaged cooked cured/salted meatwith added lactic acid producingculturesListeria monocytogenes/25 g 5 0 0 0*Abridged table.n means the minimum number of sample units which must be examined from a lot of food as specified in Column 3 of the Schedule inthis Standard.c means the maximum allowable number of defective sample units as specified in Column 4 of the Schedule.m means the acceptable microbiological level in a sample unit as specified in Column 5 of the Schedule.M means the level specified in Column 6 of the Schedule, when exceeded in one or more samples would cause the lot to be rejected.Food Act Report Year ending 30 June 2010 page 76