The most-Frequently Asked Questions regarding the new regulations.......
If you have a question that you would like to ask about the new regulations, you can do so by clicking here.
Q: Where can I find a list of approved laboratories which test for Salmonella?
A: The FSA do not approve laboratories for testing, but rather the Agency recommends plant operators choose a lab whose quality is assured by proficiency testing and the application of an independent external accreditation scheme. A list of testing labs is available at http://www.ukas.org/testing/singlesearch.asp.
Q: I am a sausage manufacturer; must I sample and test every batch I produce?
A: No. Sampling and testing of a single batch once a week is all that is required for those plants where the average production is more that 2 tonnes per week.
Q: I am a food business operator and use fresh meat as a raw material, are their any criteria that apply to fresh meat?
A: No, currently there are only criteria that apply to carcasses in slaughterhouses and processed meat (i.e. minced meat, meat preparations and meat products). Food business operators should develop their own standards (microbiological or other) within their procedures based on HACCP principles if they use fresh meat as a raw material.
Q: Is the ISO 6579:2002 protocol the only one approved for the detection of Salmonella? Is the method BS 5763:Part4:1993 valid?
A: Only the ISO 6579:2002 protocol is approved. BS 5763:Part4:1993 was withdrawn by the British Standards Institute in 1998. The BS 5763:Part4:1993 replacement was BS EN 12824:1998, which was itself withdrawn in 2002. BS EN 12824:1998 was replaced by ISO 6579:2002 which is the currently approved protocol.
Q: What are these new Salmonella rules?
A: For red meat and poultry meat plants, each sampling group will be 50 samples. These 50 samples come from 10 consecutive sampling sessions (with 5 carcass samples per session) and sampling sessions are weekly. These 50 samples "roll" i.e. samples from week 1 drop off at week 11. The assessment criteria that will be used are:
More than 2/50 for cattle/sheep are unacceptable, more than 5/50 for pigs are unacceptable and more than 7/50 for broilers and turkeys are unacceptable.
Q: Can I still use wet-dry swabbing or excision to sample my red meat carcasses?
A: You can legally use either wet-dry swabbing, carcass excision, or sponge swabbing for total aerobic counts (+) and numbers of Enterobacteriaceae. Salmonella sampling however can only be undertaken using sponge swabs. The idea behind using the new sponge swabs for all the tests was that they are easier to use, particularly on a moving line, are less effected by operator variability and they should save some money because only one set of sampling consumables is required for all of the statutory tests.
Q: Do I need to use separate sponges for salmonella, Enterobacteriaceae and APC?
A: No. All three tests can be undertaken on one sponge sample. Details of how to use one sponge for all the tests on a carcass are given in the laboratory analyses methods section.
Q: Why can't Salmonella testing be undertaken using wet and dry swabs or excision?
A: The reference method for Salmonella is an abrasive sponge. Comparable results are unlikely to be achieved with wet and dry swabbing or excision.
Q: My plant has its own category 1 testing lab, but we can't test for Salmonella (because its a category 2 pathogen). Therefore we need to split our test samples and send the Salmonella out to a contract lab, is it okay to do that?
A: Yes. The FSA advises that, for situations like this in red meat plants, sponge sampling be used. The sponge samples should be taken back to the plant's lab where a known volume (e.g. 90ml) of buffered peptone water is added to them. After stomaching the sponge, sufficient liquid (5-10ml) should be removed for TVC and Enterobacteriaceae testing. The remaining BPW and the sponge should be sent on to the contract lab for enrichment and Salmonella testing.
Q: I do more Salmonella testing than the 5 carcasses per week that I am legally obliged to do. Can I choose the 5 Salmonella test results that I present to my OVS for statutory purposes?
A: I'm afraid not (but top marks for creativity!). The FSA advise handling situations where plants test more frequently than they have to as follows:
A test week runs from Monday to Sunday. All of the test samples within a test week should be collected together and scaled down to 5 values. An example of how to do that for Salmonella for the testing schedule below is:
Monday: 5 samples taken (1 is positive); Tuesday: 6 samples taken (0 positive); Thursday; 8 samples taken (1 positive); Friday; 4 samples taken (0 positive).
Add together all the samples taken in the test week: 5+6+8+4 = 23
Add together all the positive samples generated in the test week: 1+0+0+1 = 2
Divide the number of positives by the total number of samples taken and then multiply by 5: 2
÷23 x 5 = 0.43Thus pro rata, the scaled result is that 0.43 samples out of 5 were positive for Salmonella.
The meat test results database will do these scalings for you automatically and generate a report for you if you simply enter your sampling date and the test results.
Q: I have heard that the new 2006 regulations have changed the testing requirements for plants that process more than one species; is that true?
A: Yes, there are changes. A full explanation of what is involved and a worked example is given here
Q: How should I handle young animals when calculating frequencies (particularly calves 1-6 months).
A: Class them with the adult animals to calculate throughput as the criteria apply to each species irrespective of age.
Q: What are the new surface testing rules and the acceptable limits for surfaces?
A: There is no longer any statutory requirement to test surfaces. For those plants that continue to test surfaces, the plant operator should decide what the appropriate result limits are.
Q: We have isolated a Salmonella, what should I do now?
A: The answer depends on whether the Salmonella was isolated from a carcass or minced meat, mechanically-separated meat (MSM) or other processed meat products.
If the sample was a carcass then the Salmonella isolation was as part of the process test criteria and you should instigate corrective actions if you have isolated
more than 2 Salmonella out of the last 50 samples tested for cattle/sheep, more than 5 Salmonella out of the last 50 samples tested for pigs or more than 7 Salmonella out of the last 50 samples tested for broilers and turkeys.If the sample was a minced meat, mechanically-separated meat (MSM) or other processed meat products, then the Salmonella was part of the food safety criteria. A remove from market of the batch that you tested may be necessary. You should discuss how to proceed immediately with either your OVS or a local EHO. If a remove from market is required, both of these officials are aware of the damage that can be caused to your brand, and the financial consequences of an isolation. They absolutely must enforce the law, but will act in a manner that satisfies their legal obligations to protect consumers but which minimises the impact on your business.
The Salmonella isolate is a valuable source of information to the Food Standards Agency. The Agency strongly encourages plants to send their isolates to a serotyping reference laboratory so that the strain and type of Salmonella can be determined. This process will not cost the plant or the testing lab any money because the FSA will pay all of the costs associated with this testing. Instructions on how to have the isolate serotyped are available here. Plant operators will be able to see the results of these additional tests by logging into the meat test results database. Over time, it is hoped that a picture can be built up of commonly-isolated Salmonella from meats; and that the primary sources of these isolates can be identified. Information on how dangerous the Salmonella was will also be made available to plant operators. The majority of Salmonella isolated from livestock are not human pathogens. There is no legal obligation for plants to send their isolates for serotyping, but those that do so will contribute to an "appropriateness of testing" review in 2009 which may remove the testing requirement (but there is no guarantee that will happen!).
Q: What are the permissible limits for fungi in smoked chicken in the UK?
A: There are no specific microbiological criteria for the level of yeast and moulds in chicken meat products (including smoked chicken). There is however a requirement in the hygiene legislation for food to be produced hygienically using procedures based on HACCP principles and for food manufacturers to validate and verify their processes.
If you have a question that you would like to ask about the new regulations, you can do so by clicking here.
This page was last updated: Tuesday December 18, 2007