Thermal Food Processing

Thermal Processing of Meat Products 173
TABLE 6.5
Number and Percentage of Trichinellosis Cases, by Type and Source
of Implicated Meat Product in the U.S. between 1997 and 2001
Meat Type/Source No.
No. of
Cases
Percentage
(%)
Pork products 22 31
Commercial 12 17
Sausage 4 6
Chops 1 1
Ham 1 1
Pickled pigs feet 1 1
Sausage and chops 1 1
Sausage and smoked pork 2 3
Unspecified 2 3
Direct from farm 9 13
Hunted (wild boar) 1 1
Nonpork products 30 42
Bear meat 29 40
Cougar meat 1 1
Unknown 20 28
No information 15 21
Both pork and nonpork 5 7
Commercial pork chops, bacon, hamburger 1 1
Commercial pork roast, ham, bacon, moose/quail/pheasant meat 1 1
Commercial pork roast, hamburger 1 1
Commercial pork sausage, ham, hamburger 1 1
Commercial pork sausage, sliced beef 1 1
Total 72 100a a Might not total 100% because of rounding.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prvention (CDC). Surveillance Summaries, July 25,
2003. MMWR 2003: 52 (no. 55–6).
0.3 kGy of Cs 137 has been proven to render trichinae completely noninfective.
Preharvest certification programs initiated and administered by pork producer
groups have resulted in the gradual decline of the prevalence of this parasite in
commercial pork products (Table 6.5).
Of the nine trichinellosis outbreaks in the years 1997 to 2001, five were associated
with bear meat, two with home-raised swine, and two with commercial pork. 38
The prepared meats involved in the outbreaks include a bear jerky, roast, spaghetti
dish, hamburgers, steaks, medium-rare barbecued bear meat, fried, barbecued,
stewed, and uncooked pork, homemade pork sausage, and jerky and smoked pork.
In view of the dramatic change in the epidemiology of trichinellosis, with the
majority of the outbreaks from wild game and noncommercial swine operations,
USDA-FSIS is proposing to eliminate the requirements from the meat regulations.