Decontamination of meat

Details Decontamination of meat Decontamination of meat

1989-07-11

1990-10-30

Little, Willis

Cleaning and liquid contact with solids

Apparatus

Sequential work treating receptacles or stations with means...

17 14, 134 30, 134199, A22C 2104

Patent

active

049659111

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to decontamination of meat and in particular meat carcasses.
The muscle of live, healthy animals such as cattle and sheep are normally sterile but during slaughter micro-organisms from the gastro-intestinal tract and external hide of the animal can be transferred to the surface tissue of the carcass. The presence of such contaminants such as Salmonella or E. coli are a potential hazard to human health.
Contamination during slaughter is not uniquely an Australian problem. However the rejection of meat because of contamination and ever-tightening health requirements could jeopardize Australia's position as the world's largest exporter of meat. Thus there is a need for effective reduction of the number of contaminating micro-organisms of a public health significance on the surface of meat carcasses. An effective decontamination operation could also anticipate increasingly stringent demands for improved meat hygiene, permit a relaxation in present post-boning time/temperature requirements for hot boning operations and possibly open the export market for meat from beef cattle which had passed through saleyards prior to slaughter.
A number of methods for decontamination of meat have now been proposed including a naked flame, hot air, steam and hot dilute acetic acid. However the decontamination of meat carcasses using hot water appears to have a number of advantages. The use of hot water results in reliable destruction of micro-organism contaminants, removes loose dirt and does not itself contaminate or impair meat properties. Water is a better heat transfer medium than air-steam, is not as corrosive as acetic acid, is not a chemical additive and is generally economical and readily available. Further, the use of hot water dispels concerns with the build up of resistant strains of bacterial contaminants as might occur with continued use of chemical agents.
Various publications have described the use of hot water for treatment of meat carcasses after slaughter including a publication entitled "Spray Washing of Lamb Carcasses" by C. Bailey Inst. Meat Bull 75,3 (1972) which proposed the use of spray jets of hot water optionally mixed with hypochlorite solution to provide chlorine concentrations of up to 360 parts per million.
In another publication by J. T. Patterson Northern Ireland Ministry Agriculture Rec. Agric. 18 85-87 (1969) there is described a procedure wherein carcasses were washed with hot water from a two minute inside and outside wash with a jet of water and steam.
In another publication by Kelly et al in J. Applied Bacteriol 51 415-424 (1981) lamb carcasses were spray washed with water also containing chlorine. The water was heated by steam injection until it was at the required temperature upon impact with the carcass. A similar process was reported in J. Animal Science 39 4, 674-678 (1974) by Kotula et al.
In an article by Smith and Graham in Meat Science 2 119-128 (1978) the surface tissues of beef and mutton were treated with water heated to 80 degrees C. which was simply poured over the meat samples.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,549 reference is made to animal carcasses being cleaned by a single pass through a cleaning unit having a pair of oscillating spray bar assemblies which were each equipped with a plurality of nozzles arranged to collectively contact all exposed surfaces of the carcass. The cleaning unit was enclosed within an open ended chamber having at either end a vestibular system of baffles for containing the spray liquid while permitting uninhibited passage of the carcasses.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,337,549 did not refer to the use of hot water. However the use of spray nozzles which were used in the majority of the prior art discussed above were found to be disadvantageous because:
(i) the water after it left the spray nozzles rapidly cooled thereby reducing its ability to minimize the number of contaminating micro-organisms;
(ii) the nozzles were usually prone to blockage especially if the water was recycled;
(iii) the use of spray nozzles was relatively expensive because o

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patent: 3523326 (1970-08-01), Ambill
patent: 4337549 (1982-07-01), Anderson et al.
patent: 4868950 (1989-09-01), Harben, Jr.

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