Foreign Material Controls in the Red Meat Industry

The back portion are pulled out to expose the attaching membrane, which is cut by a knife and cleanly pulled away from the muscle tissue.

Boneless shoulder clods are then turned upside down exposing the interior side of the muscle and the pre-scapular lymph nodes. At the two areas where the shoulder and elbow tendons protrude, the clod is checked on the butt end where the shoulder tendon protrudes approximately 1 to 2 inches, depending on the size of the shoulder clod, and at the point portion where the elbow tendon protrudes is also checked for defects.

Afterwards, the boneless beef travels down a conveyer belt and ends up accumulating directly into a combo bins. At this juncture, personnel visually examine the boneless beef trimmings. The boneless beef that is destined for the NSLP program is placed into cardboard bins lined with a food grade plastic liner, fully and properly labeled at the end of pack-off. At this point of the process, QA personnel perform the on-line inspection for objectionable materials.

Check: How do you verify using quality assurance check? As the combo bins of boneless beef that are destined for the NSLP are in the filling process, an on-line Partial Quality Control program is performed and documented by trained QA personnel. At approximate 30 minute intervals (beginning from the start of each production shift if school lunch product is being processed), plus or minus 15 minutes, an approximate 30-pound grab sample of product is removed from a combo bin and placed inside an edible labeled tote and inspected by a trained QA.

An off-line organoleptic (visual) re-inspection is performed afterwards under enhanced lighting. The boneless beef is then scored using a criterion for on-line inspection for boning defects. If the criterion is exceeded, all product produced from the last acceptable check will be tagged, re-worked, re-inspected, and documented.

In Summary

The NSLP is a demanding and unforgiving program that’s stricter than any other commercial or governmental program today. By reading through the plan, do, check, and act format, it’s imperative that constant employee training is required in order for the program to meet all of the AMS requirements and guidelines. Failure to follow selected AMS guidelines can lead to a disqualification status. Plants can get reinstated by forwarding a cause and effect corrective action that is approved by selected officials at the AMS.

The Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) involving Safe Quality Food (SQF), British Retail Consortium (BRC), and the FSSC 22050 does not contain any such detailed requirements. However, if USDA establishments have the ability to adopt both the NSLP and GFSI programs into their operations, such pro-active programs will power their operations several levels higher than that of their competitors.

I’ve always advised qualifying companies who are vertically integrated (slaughter, fabrication, and grinding) that want to have the NSLP and GFSI programs integrated within their company operations to successfully implement and accomplish the myriad standards involving the NSLP first before attempting GFSI certification.

The trails of documentation, management commitment, and employee training that’s required to meet the many standards of the NSLP naturally prepares a company’s operations towards the even more demanding, but rewarding, international standards of GFSI.

Sayer, a 30-year-veteran of the beef industry, is a consultant at S&R Consulting, LLC, in Aliso Viejo, Calif. Reach him at [email protected].