Clostridium Botulinum in Vacuum Packed Fresh Meat
Hi, i worked in a compant that do hot boning (cutitng the carcass immediately after slaughter and dressing) and then vacuum packed. we were told that we are at risk for clostridium botulinum due to product temperature during packing. does anyone know how to actually confirm that we are not at risk at all. thanks.
https://www.meatinst...tAction/i/50960
The main purpose of this article is CO in meat packaging. However it does discuss botulism in all meat packaging items.
Hi, i worked in a compant that do hot boning (cutitng the carcass immediately after slaughter and dressing) and then vacuum packed. we were told that we are at risk for clostridium botulinum due to product temperature during packing. does anyone know how to actually confirm that we are not at risk at all. thanks.
Hi weweng,
This article supports enabling safe vac.packing but includes caveats with respect to temperature and shelf life.
C.botulinum in vac.pack fresh beef,etc.pdf 321.76KB 10 downloads
CFIA allows you to pack prior to chilling? That doesn't sound right to me
To satisfy CFIA (and yourself) you need to perform a validation it will be similar to shelf life testing, where by the sealed cuts will be stored in a lab under controlled conditions, and tested for Cbot over a period of time (whatever you have set your shelf life by)
depending on the results you get back, you would then put that into a validation study summary, ideally you'd repeat that testing more than once to confirm the results
Buuuuuuuuuuut you may not win this one with CFIA
E. ChillingThe licence holder must ensure that the refrigeration and chilling procedures are carried out in accordance with the guidance documents and regulatory requirements.
To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate the following:
- refrigeration of carcasses must begin promptly after the end of carcass dressing and product must be cooled as quickly as possible
- for carcasses and cuts (primary cuts, sub-primary cuts, cuts and trims), the operator shall ensure and demonstrate in an ongoing manner that they are achieving compliance with cooling performance standards
- carcass parts can be cooled in potable water, air chilled, packaged immediately after harvest or after partial chilling and blast frozen on site or in a remote location shortly after harvest
- using carbon dioxide in the packaging, or chilling individually vacuum packed offal in brine tunnels are also acceptable options
- the cooling of the carcass part is continuous at the level of its surface of concern
- product temperature requirements must be met at the time of shipping
CFIA allows you to pack prior to chilling? That doesn't sound right to me
To satisfy CFIA (and yourself) you need to perform a validation it will be similar to shelf life testing, where by the sealed cuts will be stored in a lab under controlled conditions, and tested for Cbot over a period of time (whatever you have set your shelf life by)
depending on the results you get back, you would then put that into a validation study summary, ideally you'd repeat that testing more than once to confirm the results
Buuuuuuuuuuut you may not win this one with CFIA
E. ChillingThe licence holder must ensure that the refrigeration and chilling procedures are carried out in accordance with the guidance documents and regulatory requirements.
To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate the following:
- refrigeration of carcasses must begin promptly after the end of carcass dressing and product must be cooled as quickly as possible
- for carcasses and cuts (primary cuts, sub-primary cuts, cuts and trims), the operator shall ensure and demonstrate in an ongoing manner that they are achieving compliance with cooling performance standards
- carcass parts can be cooled in potable water, air chilled, packaged immediately after harvest or after partial chilling and blast frozen on site or in a remote location shortly after harvest
- using carbon dioxide in the packaging, or chilling individually vacuum packed offal in brine tunnels are also acceptable options
- the cooling of the carcass part is continuous at the level of its surface of concern
- product temperature requirements must be met at the time of shipping
Hi Scampi, we are not fighting with CFIA at all. we've got nice CFIA people helping us with this one. and we understand that a validation is required however australia and NZ where they do hot boning all the time do not even consider it as a risk for them. and were told that because the presence of e.coli on our product is a definite indicator of a c.bot contamination. one scientist we talked laughed it off. we are looking for an alternative way aside from challenge testing.
thank you though
You'll have to do challenge testing
This is a national program thing, but it can be done! I did it for quail to prove we could pack and then chill. I stood in the blast freezer for a month taking little bird temperatures, and in the end, was granted permission, but it had to come from national programs, not with my VIC or regional VIC
Have you tried reaching out the programs in NZ or Australia? They may be willing to share
I unfortunately can believe that someone thinks that e coli is an indicator for Cbot lol
PM me, I may have someone at ag canada that could help
Are you a provincial plant or federal plant? Who's your end user? Either way, I agree, there should be at least a one CCP (are you cooling it after it's vacuum packed?) step before you package the cut meat. Need to do a validation study of the packaged meat, some universities/laboratories will offer services
Just my thoughts.
CFIA allows you to pack prior to chilling? That doesn't sound right to me
To satisfy CFIA (and yourself) you need to perform a validation it will be similar to shelf life testing, where by the sealed cuts will be stored in a lab under controlled conditions, and tested for Cbot over a period of time (whatever you have set your shelf life by)
depending on the results you get back, you would then put that into a validation study summary, ideally you'd repeat that testing more than once to confirm the results
Buuuuuuuuuuut you may not win this one with CFIA
E. ChillingThe licence holder must ensure that the refrigeration and chilling procedures are carried out in accordance with the guidance documents and regulatory requirements.
To meet the performance criteria the licence holder must demonstrate the following:
- refrigeration of carcasses must begin promptly after the end of carcass dressing and product must be cooled as quickly as possible
- for carcasses and cuts (primary cuts, sub-primary cuts, cuts and trims), the operator shall ensure and demonstrate in an ongoing manner that they are achieving compliance with cooling performance standards
- carcass parts can be cooled in potable water, air chilled, packaged immediately after harvest or after partial chilling and blast frozen on site or in a remote location shortly after harvest
- using carbon dioxide in the packaging, or chilling individually vacuum packed offal in brine tunnels are also acceptable options
- the cooling of the carcass part is continuous at the level of its surface of concern
- product temperature requirements must be met at the time of shipping