Foreign Material Controls in the Red Meat Industry

The study of foreign materials found in food is called Microanalytical Entomology. The U.S. FDA and the Association of Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC) have published reference articles, books, and methods on this subject that discuss methods of analyses, contaminant identification, and contaminant significance.

Livestock

In addition to the large dollar amounts that processors and manufacturers spend annually to ensure foreign objects are detected and removed from domestic meat products, livestock producers are also implementing their own safeguards to keep foreign objects, like buckshot, from entering the food supply. Livestock producers are educating their employees and neighbors not to fire shotguns for herd control, and not to allow hunting of other wildlife in the vicinity of cattle herds.

Buckshot can inadvertently hit cattle from such practices, and the financial losses are magnified when the plant must detect and remove this foreign material later in the manufacturing process. As a result, livestock producers are increasing their efforts to reduce this potential source of contamination.

Voluntary Safeguards

There presently exists a voluntary governmental program for beef establishments that produce fresh boneless beef and frozen ground beef for the nation’s schools and a variety of institutions that requires objectionable materials to be removed. This program is named the National School Lunch Program (NSLP).

The program requires a written technical proposal approved by governmental auditors from the Agricultural Market Service (AMS) that involves written procedures from the transportation of livestock (humane handling of livestock) thru the entire continuum of beef slaughter, fabrication, and ground beef.

The NSLP involves and promotes both food safety (HACCP program and FSIS inspection) and food quality requirements (i.e., fat percentage, net weights, and objectionable materials removal) that must meet AMS set parameters addressed within each USDA establishment’s technical proposal requirements.

The AMS’ technical proposal is based on the ISO 9000 series and requires the plan, do, check, and act format on every process step (from transportation of livestock to final delivery of finished beef products) to generate excellent conditioned boneless beef and frozen ground beef.

One key element of the program is the detection and elimination of objectionable materials (natural tissues of meats) as well as foreign physical materials (metals, plastics, stones, and glass).

A typical description involving objectionable materials in a plan, do, check, and act format of a NSLP technical proposal is partially cited below.

Description of Process—objectionable materials. Major lymph glands (pre-femoral, popliteal, and pre-scapular) thymus gland, and the sciatic nerve (lies medial to the outside round). All bone, cartilage, and the following heavy connective tissues; white fibrous—shoulder tendon, elbow tendon, silver skin (from the outside round), sacrociatic ligament, opaque periosteum, serous membrane (peritoneum), tendinous ends of shanks, gracilis membrane, patelleras ligament (associated with the stifle joint), Achilles tendon, and the yellow elastin, back strap, and abdominal tunic.

Trained quality assurance personnel ensure that the following objectionable materials are removed using a knife: the major lymph glands (pre-femoral, popliteal, and pre-scapular), thymus gland, bone cartilage, sciatic nerve, shoulder tendon, elbow tendon, sacrociatic ligament, opaque periosteum, tendinous ends of the shanks, patellar ligament (stifle joint), and internal fat (kidney, pelvic, and heart fat).

Plan: How will QA meet the production step? All boneless beef products that are intended for the NSLP program shall be subject to visual inspection to ensure that the above objectionable materials are removed and placed into an inedible container. An approximate 30-pound sample shall randomly be taken from a combo bin (containing raw boneless beef) and re-inspected for any objectionable materials; approximately every 30 minutes, plus or minus 15 minutes.

Do: The actual production step. Beef carcasses are de-boned by skilled butchers. Achilles tendons and external fibrous tissues are removed by the butchers prior to de-boning the hind shank. The rump portion of each carcass is opened by knife cuts to separate muscle groups, exposing other tissues, such as silver skin, gracilis membranes, sacrociatic ligaments, popliteal lymph nodes, abdominal tunic, and pre-formal lymph nodes, which shall be removed. Back straps are removed by butterflying open the neck and back portion of the beef chuck, once the bone is removed. The neck portion and the strap are trimmed off.