Elsevier

Journal of Food Protection

Volume 79, Issue 12, December 2016, Pages 2196-2210
Journal of Food Protection

Review
A Rapid Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Slaughter and Processing Interventions To Control Nontyphoidal Salmonella in Beef and Pork

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ABSTRACT

Pork is one of the major food sources of human salmonellosis worldwide, and beef products have been implicated in numerous foodborne outbreaks. Thus, effective interventions to reduce Salmonella contamination during beef and pork processing are of interest to both regulators and the meat industry. We conducted a rapid systematic review and meta-analysis of literature investigating the efficacy of slaughter and processing interventions to control Salmonella in beef and pork. Review steps included a comprehensive search strategy, relevance screening of abstracts, relevance confirmation of articles, data extraction, risk-of-bias assessment, meta-analysis (where appropriate), and a weight-of-evidence assessment. A total of 191 relevant experimental studies were identified. The results of two controlled trials indicated that hot water and steam treatments were effective for reducing the prevalence of Salmonella on beef carcasses (relative risk [RR] = 0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.02, 0.58), whereas in four trials, prechill organic acid washes were effective for reducing Salmonella on pork carcasses (RR = 0.32; 95% CI: 0.13, 0.78), with high confidence in the estimates of effect. In four quasi-experimental studies, postexsanguination chemical washes were effective for reducing the prevalence of Salmonella on cattle hides, with low confidence in the specific estimate of effect; however, moderate confidence was found for the effect estimates of scalding (RR =0.20; 95% CI: 0.14, 0.29) and singeing (RR = 0.34; 95% CI: 0.22, 0.52) of pork carcasses. The overall evidence supports enhanced reductions of Salmonella through a multihurdle approach. Various slaughter and processing interventions can contribute to reduction of Salmonella on beef and pork carcasses, depending on the context of application, and an appropriate combination should be selected, validated, and verified by establishment operators under their local conditions.

Keywords

Interventions
Knowledge synthesis
Meat
Review
Salmonellae

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