Download "Predicting E. coli inactivation in uncooked comminuted ...

Inactivation of E. coli in UCFM 48.loathe to change traditional recipes and processes . Recommendations to mandate specificprocesses are likely to lessen the diversity of UCFM products on the markets, withconsumers losing a range of choice. Any proposed change should ideally preserve thisdiversity and choice.From this review an obvious manipulation is to increase maturation temperatures by a fewdegrees. This is unlikely to greatly affect the aesthetic qualities of the final product, but wouldaccelerate inactivation rates. The faster drying expected to result from ripening at highertemperatures, and the attendant risk of case-hardening, could be offset by higher relativehumidity in ripening rooms.However, the observation that few Australian UCFM processes achieve a 3-log kill promptsthe question whether specification of a 3-log kill is appropriate, particularly in the relativeabsence of ongoing disease outbreaks. Where outbreaks do occur typically they have beenattributed to failure to observe GMP and to inattention to known critical controls in the UCFMprocess. Microbiological criteria for foods should be technologically feasible (NRC, 1985).A Food Safety Objective (FSO) specifying the maximum tolerable number of pathogenicE. coli in UCFM at the completion of manufacture would allow processors to manipulate bothincoming raw ingredients quality and inactivation during processing to satisfy the FSO. ThatFSO level could be set using the methods of quantitative risk assessment, and severalassessments of the risk of E. coli in UCFM have already been presented (Lammerding et al.1998; M. Cassin, pers. comm, 1997).The microbial ecology of UCFM is reasonably well understood and rational HACCP planscould be developed for individual processes to meet the FSO. In response to the failure ofUSA UCFM processes to reliably achieve a 5-log kill, USA regulators amended regulations toallow a 2-log kill when a reliable HACCP plan was employed.Thus, given the inability of most UCFM processes in current use to reliably achieve a 3-logkill of E. coli, a final set of recommendations is:• that either Australian UCFM processes be modified so that they can achieve the requiredthe 3-log kill, or• that the need for a three log kill is re-assessed, and alternative risk managementstrategies clearly based on food safety outcomes are developed.1717This concern is often raised. John Wintulich (J. Wintulich, pers comm, December, 2000) is a former South AustralianUCFM producer, and now and industry consultant. He suggests, however, that many producers simply seek practicaladvice to make their products ‘safe’ and would be willing to modify processes if necessary.Page 48 of 59