Meat Industry Promotes New Guidelines
ustry groups, including the National Meat Association, based here, has developed a new set of guidelines for processors to follow in preventing bacterial contamination of ready-to-eat products such as hot dogs.
The document is entitled, Guidelines for Developing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMPs), Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and Environmental Sampling/Testing Recommendations (ESTRs) for Ready-to-Eat (RTE) Products.
The information promotes a variety of best practices at all phases of RTE production, with the goal of minimizing the possibility of contamination with organisms such as Listeria monocytogenes, which can even grow in products that have been processed, cooked, vacuum-packaged and refrigerated.
The document was developed in conjunction with Dr. Kerri Harris of Texas A&M University, a group of industry microbiologists and Dr. John Blackwell of Food Marketing Services International, a Columbia, Md. firm that specializes in issues as they relate to the importation of animal products.
