Meat packing industry overview and operations

Safety and Health Issues in Meat Processing Industry

In the meat processing industry, health and safety issues are of vital importance, in view of the several risks arising out of microbial contamination of meat and the occupational hazards faced by workers. Past experiences have shown that microbial reproduction in meat and meat products can reach alarming proportions traversing across countries and even continents. The infamous mad cow disease and the foot and mouth disease in cattle has rattled the British meat industry for a considerable period, resulting in loss of image, confidence and erosion of profits. North America's main problem is the widespread prevalence of eschericia coli in meat, more commonly known as the hamburger disease. It is well-known that meat is highly susceptible to attack of bacteria and virus and hence there is a constant need to address this risk. When microbial activity sets in, the quality of meat is affected and the consumer suffers from food poisoning or infection.

According to Dr. Linda Saucier of Canada's Food Research and Development Centre (FRDC), every year about 5 to 10% of the global population is inflicted by some kind of food poisoning; of which one out of three cases of food-poisoning is due to contamination in meat or meat products. (Brodeur, Agriculture and Agri-food Canada). Since the animals brought for slaughtering will have microbes in one form or the other, the risk of infection is invariably high while processing the meat. Another major issue in meat industry is the safety and health of workers carrying out the processing operations. Meat processing involves a great deal of physical activity and the compulsion to work in environmentally hostile conditions. The nature of work requires workers to manually handle heavy equipment on a repetitive basis and this can lead to serious physical injuries and illnesses. Unsafe working conditions will lead to lower productivity and increase the risk of losses. Lack of hygiene and safety in the meat processing units can lead to major quality problems with respect to the final quantity of meat. Once meat shows sign of infection, it will face market rejection, cannot be sold and may have to be destroyed.

Sources of meat:

The main sources of meat are cattle, pig, sheep and poultry. Cattle include cow, calf and bullock. Cow beef is manufactured from cows that are typically near or past their useful period of milk production. Such cows are generally 5-8 years' old, although regulations in UK do not allow extraction of meat from cattle, aged more than 30 months. (Ranken, 2000, p.23). When the population of male and female calves is in excess of the milk cattle demand, then the surplus is diverted for meat manufacture. Bullock meat is manufactured from breeds having weight of 450 kg or more. Pig meat comes from bacon pig, heavy hog, continental breeds and boars. Pig meat is valued for its rich fat content and used for making fresh pork, bacon, and sausage and pie meat. In poultry, chicken is the main source of meat. Chicken meat is made from hens (which are past their egg laying time), broilers (birds suitable for grilling) and broiler breeder hens (parents of broilers). Turkey meat is also popular and is characterized by its heavy weight and yield of meat.

Pre-slaughtering of animals and birds:

The risk of microbial infection is present right from the stage of rearing the animals. Handling of animals in the period before slaughtering can determine the quality and hence the commercial value of the finished meat. Poor handling of the animals and birds in the pre-slaughtering stage such as rough transportation and cramming large number of animals in small cages, may lead to unwarranted stress and state of agitation in animals. Stress leads to softening of pig meat and dark cuts in cattle, affecting the quality. Under stress, birds and animals tend to defecate more, thus posing risks of contamination. Stress has been known to promote growth of salmonella in pigs and even shedding of E-coli in cattle. (Varnam and Sutherland, 1995, p.44)

Slaughtering:

The Health and Safety Executive of the UK has identified meat and poultry slaughtering as the major contributors of injury to workers in the UK. Over a three-year period, injuries per 100,000 workers were 3845 for meat slaughtering, 2943 for poultry slaughtering and 2081 for meat and poultry products. These incidence rates were much higher compared to the entire manufacturing industry average of 1190 injuries per 100,000 workers over the same period (Health & Safety Executive). This is a striking evidence of the high risk of injuries of workers in the meat processing industry. The methods employed in slaughtering will have an impact not only on the quality and quantity of meat, but also on the safety of workers and the well being of the ultimate consumers of meat. A typical slaughtering house will use animals from a variety of sources and hence the risk of animals having diseases and microbial infection is always present. Symptoms of certain diseases such as rabies or tetanus may be more evident in live animals than in the carcass. Certain infections need to be detected without loss of time as they may reach epidemic proportions if left unchecked. Examples include the dreaded anthrax and food and mouth disease. Anthrax is caused by a bacterium bacillus anthracis, which produces infective spores. It has the ability to spread rapidly in animals and humans and can be fatal. Foot and mouth disease is caused by a virus, which creates blisters in the mouth and feet, inducing drooling in the process. While this is not fatal, it contributes to reducing the efficiency of the body organs.

Before slaughtering, the animals are generally subjected to the process of 'stunning; wherein the animals are immobilized to facilitate quick severing of the blood vessels. The advantage of stunning depends on the fact that animals are saved from feeling the pain of being killed. Animals are stunned in three ways - use of mechanical instrument such as captive bolt pistol, passage of electric current through the brain and inducing unconsciousness by subjecting the animals to anaesthetic gases such as carbon dioxide. In these methods, the objective is to traumatize the brain, so that the animal becomes unconscious and the animal can be killed without resistance or reaction. However, not all meat processors follow the practice of stunning. For instance, the methods adopted by Jews, Muslims (halal meat) and Sikhs do not incorporate stunning prior to slaughter (Warriss, 2000, p.56). The animals are generally killed by a single stroke of the sword. This exposes the workers to the risk of suffering injuries due to the handling of heavy sword repeatedly and dealing with animals, which are conscious and hence having the capability to react in some form.

Pithing is one of the commonly used processes in slaughtering adult cattle. The objective of pithing is to destroy the brain and spinal cord, so that the animals do not react involuntarily during slaughtering. A long flexible rod, called the pithing cane made of plastic or stainless steel is inserted into the skull of the animal through the hole created in the head by shooting with captive bolt pistol and physically moving the cane to damage the brain parts. The cane is also slid down the vertebral canal to destroy the spinal nerves. Pithing poses grave risks as the opening up of internal parts of the animal can become an easy target for microbial infection. With the blood circulation system still functioning at the time of brain destruction, there is every possibility of the microbes spreading to other organs. Another method is the severing of spinal cord at the point where it enters the skull by using knives. (Jones, 1992, p.12)

While this method may cause instant paralysis, it does not render the animal unconscious and hence is generally not a favored method. Apart from the risk of microbial attack, pithing can cause accidents, illnesses and traumatic disorders in workers due to the frequent lifting and handling of heavy equipment and repetitive nature of work involved. In modern meat processing systems, the trend is to discard the method of pithing, which provides comfort to the consumers that the risk of microbial contamination is greatly reduced. In another operation, sticking, the animal's arteries and veins are cut to ensure brain death. Here again knives are used and immediately after cutting, bleeding will result from to the fractured arteries and veins. The blood oozes out of the wounds and is thus exposed to the risk of infection from external sources. Repeated sticking operations involving the physical use of knives exposes the workers to the risk of injuries and cumulative traumatic disorders. (Jones, 1992, p.13)

Another major occupational risk involves carcass dressing. Outer skins of even healthy animals can be contaminated with dirt and bacteria. This is more prevalent in animals, which have plenty of hair on the skin. The hair layers can also be a breeding place for insects and flies, often carriers of microbes. The primary objective of carcass dressing is therefore to remove the outer skin, hair and other non-edible parts of the animal to free the meat of infections. Traditionally, carcass dressing was done with the animal laid on the floor or on a cradle. However, this is now being done with the carcass hanging by its hindlegs from an overhead rail system. This has greatly improved the hygiene levels in operations, but does not eliminate the risk of microbes present in the skin or hair layers of the slaughtered animal. Workers face similar risks in poultry processing. After stunning, the blood vessels in the bird's neck are cut either manually or with automatic knife with a rotating blade. Feathers are removed from the bird's skin before making the meat to reduce carcass contamination. (Jones, 1992, p.15)

One of the major risks in poultry processing, is the possibility of microbial contamination due to accidental cuts and wounds sustained during operations. Even small infections can rapidly spread to whole populations of carcasses and hence workers need to be very cautious. The workers themselves are likely to be affected by exposure to harmful bacteria. The carcass and viscera are subjected to post-mortem inspection after slaughtering to ensure that meat is not unfit for human consumption due to attack of microorganisms. Tissues and organs are examined by visual inspection, palpation and incision. A common practice is to conduct routine incision of lymph nodes to detect the occurrence of diseases. It is common knowledge that pneumonia and tuberculosis have characteristic lesions. Parasitic diseases such as those caused by tapeworms and ringworms are often concentrated in the liver, muscles and heart. These microbes continue to thrive, especially in under-cooked meat and can easily get into the systems of humans. Personnel carrying out the post-mortem inspection are thus exposed to the risks of microbial attacks.

Yet another area of concern is the butchering process. Meat is butchered into smaller portions for selling at retail outlets. Workers use knives for cutting the meat and they are required to repeat the cutting action several times in the course of their work. Butchering activity can thus lead to injuries, trauma disorders and related illnesses. Butchers are exposed to meat in open condition and hence easily prone to attack from bacteria, if the meat is already infected. Butchering also affects the quality of the meat, depending on the manner of cutting, timing and choice of knives used. Due to the nature of work involved, butchering outlets often tend to have poor sanitary and hygiene conditions, unless there is regular maintenance and proper housekeeping. Workers are constantly exposed to potentially infectious conditions. It is also possible that workers already infected with harmful bacteria, may contribute to infection of other workers and also the meat which is available for butchering.

Microbial activity in meat:

One of the major causes for food poisoning is microbial activity. Food poisoning can be either due to infection or intoxication. Infection occurs when a person eats food infested with live organisms. Intoxication arises due to the presence of toxins discharged by organisms in the food taken by the person. The human body tries to get rid of the toxins and poisons by exhibiting symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.

Microbes are present in fresh meat, albeit in small numbers. With increase in exposure and at ordinary temperatures, various microbes grow rapidly, leading to change in color of uncooked meat, change in smell and visible growth of slime. One of the most common reasons for meat spoilage is microbial activity. In fact, the storage or shelf life of meat is the time taken by the microbes to multiply in sufficient numbers to cause decay and discoloration. As the meat is cut, the rate of microbial growth will increase; this is because, more food is made accessible to the bacteria due to larger cut surfaces. A major factor that affects microbial growth is temperature. As a general rule, at normal temperatures, microbial growth rate increases with temperature. Maximum growth occurs in the temperature range 10 to 63 degrees centigrade (50-145 degrees Fahrenheit). At temperatures beyond 70 C, meat becomes pasteurized, when meat becomes free of active microorganisms; however, such meat may still contain spores, which can start activity once the temperature drops. At temperatures above 100 C, the meat becomes sterilized and even the spores are killed. (Ranken, 2000, p.20)

It is common knowledge that meat is stored under refrigerated conditions. At temperature of 5 C, technically called the critical temperature, growth of microbes is greatly retarded. However, growth of microbes stops only below -10 C; only a few microbes are killed while the majority remains dormant. The inactive microbes start growing once the temperature increases and when the meat starts thawing.. Under refrigerated storage, meat may have different microbial species - pseudomonas, achromobacter, micrococcus, lactobacillus, streptococcus, leuconostoc, pediococcus, falvobacterium, proteus. The relative humidity of the environment to which the meat is exposed, determines the growth of microbes - higher the relative humidity, greater the condensation of water, hence higher the growth of microbes. Therefore, reduction in water content retards microbial activity. Variations in pH or acidity, affect microbial multiplication rates. Many microbes show tendency to grow faster at lower pH or higher acidic conditions. Generally, optimum condition for growth of microbes is pH of seven, which is neither acidic nor basic. However, many bacteria species are known to thrive in slightly acidic conditions (pH 5.4 to 5.6).

To understand the impact of microorganisms on meat, it is relevant to know the various types that attack under different conditions. There are three types of microorganisms - moulds, yeast and bacteria. Molds are multi-cellular organisms that lead to formation of fuzzy layers on the meat surface and also lead to discoloration of meat. Once moulds are formed, they leave behind numerous tiny spores on the surface and spread by air. Yeast is unicellular, spreads through air and can be carried through contacting surfaces. Presence of yeast gives a moist or slimy appearance to the meat. Bacteria represent the biggest source of meat contamination; they are unicellular and present in various forms and shapes. With respect to replication, bacteria grow faster than yeast, which in turn outgrows moulds. (The microbial growth in meat and meat products has been attributed to specific types of microorganisms - salmonella, listeria, eschericia coli, clostrium perfringens, staphylococcus, coliforms. Ingestion of salmonella can affect the gastrointestinal tract and the symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain. Contamination with salmonella is common in almost all types of raw meats. The rate of incidence is very high in intensively reared chickens. Listeria monocytogenes results in a condition called listeriosis, a flu-like illness. This species can grow at refrigerated temperatures, survive for long duration even under adverse conditions and has the ability to disrupt cells and thus the central nervous system. This bacterium is found freely in the environment and water bodies. Presence of these bacteria in immuno-compromised humans and pregant women may prove to be fatal. Clostrium perfringens infects the food and when ingested, results in nausea, occasional vomiting, diarrhea, abodminal pain and flatulence. These microorganisms can develop symptoms very quickly, 3-6 hours as in the case of staphylococcus or over prolonged periods, 1-7 days as in the case of campylobacter jejuni, in which instance fever or diarrhea can develop even after a few days after ingestion. Middlekauff, 1989, p.296)

E-coli are perhaps the most dangerous species in meat that can cause long-term occupational hazards. This bacteria lead to a severe illness with symptoms of bloody diarrhea and severe abdominal cramps. Even ten units of e-coli are sufficient to cause food poisoning in a person. E-coli are notorious for its outbreak in North America and Canada and the term 'hamburger disease' is quite popular. The source of contamination for e-coli is faeces of animals. There have been recorded instances of bloody diarrhea and even death of children due to outbreak of illnesses caused by ingestion of this species through uncooked meat products. Many major types of meat and beef are often found infested with verocytotoxin producing e-coli (VTEC).

This presents a difficult situation as beef-burgers are made with meat from cull cattle. According to a research conducted in 1993 in the UK, the incidence of VTEC in beef products was found to be in 17% of the beef products, which is higher than the combined incidence of salmonella, campylobacter and yersina. This research also indicated that the incidence of VTEC was significantly higher among older cattle. It is now established that undercooking is the main cause for presence of e-coli bacteria in hamburgers. Although the common understanding is that burgers are cooked in micro ovens and thus subjected to extreme high temperatures, the reality is that burgers are only subjected to warming before being served. It is therefore clear that the microorganisms are not killed and start reproducing once the conditions become favorable. Since burgers are consumed by all types of people especially children, the risk of e-coli striking on a mass scale is very high. (Middlekauff, 1989, p.297)

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease received wide public attention when its outbreak reached epidemic proportions in the United Kingdom and certain other parts of Europe. Britain was the worst affected as beef meat produced in the country was found to be infected with this species. In 1994, Germany threatened a total ban on imports of beef from UK, stating that cattle from UK had high incidence of BSE. The spongiform group species are known to be responsible for a range of infections including scrapie of sheep and goats, chronic wasting disease of mule, deer and elk and infections in humans namely Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease and Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome. These diseases are chronic in character and may result in serious infections of the central nervous system. Initially, the presence of BSE was restricted to scrapie in sheep. However, the species crossed this barrier and spread to cattle as nervous tissue of sheep was used as one of the ingredients of cattle feed. A peculiar characteristic of the BSE is its ability to replicate at a very slow rate, spread over several months to attain noticeable level of activity. (Middlekauff, 1989, p.297)

Meat as sources of animal parasites:

Trichinella spiralis: This parasite infects humans, food animals and domestic pets and can lead to serious illness with mortality rate up to 30%. Pigs and bears are the major sources of trichinella.

Taenia spp.: Commonly known as tapeworms, this parasite occurs in two species T.solium (pork tapeworm) and T.saginata (beef tapeworm). They are usually present in the muscle layers of cows and pigs, which can be detected by visual appearance. Ingestion of live parasites leads to infection.

Taxoplasma gondii: Domestic cat is the major host for this parasite and infections arise from contact with feline faeces. This parasite can cause serious congenital problems, which may lead to blindness, mental instability, abortion and death of the foetus. Consumption of raw and undercooked meat is another route through which these bacteria may enter the human system. The principal carriers are cattle, sheep and pigs.

Cryptosporidium parvum: A protozoan parasite, this species is known to cause severe enteritis in humans, which may lead to potentially fatal conditions in people with reduced immunity. Direct contact with infected animals, contaminated water, raw and undercooked meat are the carriers of this parasite.

Fasciola hepatica: Also known as liver fluke, this species is found usually in sheep, cattle and pigs, while the secondary host is water snail. Fluke can attack liver and lungs, possibly causing serious illness and even death. (Johnson, 1994, p.4)

Worker safety in meat processing industry:

The high percentage of accidents, injuries and illnesses in the meat slaughtering, processing and packaging industry has traditionally been a matter of concern to industry managers, employers and governments. In America, when the Occupational, Safety and Health Act was promulgated in 1970, the meat and meat products industry was recognized as one of the five Standard Industrial Classifications to be accorded priority attention, in view of the high frequency of occupational injuries. One of the major causes for injuries is due to the use of knives, hooks and saws especially by employees involved in boning operations. These give rise to cumulative trauma disorders, which can negatively impact both occupational and personal lives of workers in the meat processing industry. Common cumulative trauma disorders include tendinitis, tenosynovitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, which damage soft tissues and sensitive nerves of the body. These disorders can be chronic, cripple the normal functions of body organs and eventually cause irreversible damage. According to the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety data compiled in 1996, the costs of lost days and compensation due to musculoskeletal disorders are in the range of U.S. Dollars 13 to 20 billion. A report of the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 1995 claimed that over 705,000 mandays were lost in a period of one year, because of workers staying away from work on account of pain due to repetitive motion or over exertion. (USDA report, 1998)

In a report made available by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) of the UK, has identified the main causes of injury to workers in meat and fish processing industry and their rate of occurrence, based on data available in 1997:

injury to hands, legs and parts of the body due to manual lifting and handling of heavy loads; as much as 24% of the reported injuries were due to this factor hand tools such as knives, striking the body while carrying out the processing work; 16% of reported injuries and 53% of this type involved hand tools, mainly knives workers slipping and falling on wet and greasy floors at the workplace; this constituted 21% of the total reported injuries and 34% of the major injuries and is the largest contributor to major injuries in the meat processing industry injury arising while operating running machinery such as conveyors, bandsaws, skinning machines etc. - 8% of all injuries and 22% of major injuries injury during transportation of meat, including fork lift trucks and vehicles at loading bays falling from elevated workplaces - ladders, stairs, plants and vehicles body exposure to hazardous objects and substances, including heat radiation

The HSE also lists the major occupational health risks - musculoskeletal injury from manual handling, work-related upper limb disorders, and noise induced hearing loss due to high noise levels at the workplace, infections from microbial contact, physical and health disorders due to prolonged working at lower temperatures. In the fish processing industry, workers are also subjected to risks of asthma from exposure to aerosol proteins and risk of cancer from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from smoking fish. The HSE has also identified the main causes of occupational ill health. They include (a) chronic ill health from manual handling of items such as boxed meat (b) upper limb disorders resulting in meat processing operations such as pithing and deboning and - noise-induced hearing loss. (HSE, 1997)

Till the mid-nineties, employees pre-dominantly used vibrating hand-held knives to remove meat from bones. This resulted in a situation, where 20 to 40% of such employees were suffering from hand, wrist, elbow and shoulder injuries, which are cumulative traumatic disorders. Coupled with extremely cool workplace temperatures, the workers were thus subjected to the risks of traumatic disorders. The high incidence of disorders in the meat industry prompted OSHA to take stringent action on meat companies during the late eighties by way of imposing stiff fines. Meat companies were then forced to enter into 'settlement agreements' with unions and OSHA, which provided for solving the cumulative traumatic disorder problems of workers. An ergonomic approach was advocated for designing of jobs, tools and work methods to overcome the limitations of workers. (Crossland, 1997, p.70)

One of the major developments in this area was the evolution of Advanced Meat Recovery (AMR) system, with the objective of achieving efficient separation of meat without the use of vibrating, hand-held knives. It is widely believed that the introduction of AMR has brought about a decrease in cumulative trauma disorders among workers in the meat industry, although there is no direct evidence to support such a view. In the 1999 report of Bureau of Labor Statistics, it is indicated that overall injury and illness rates in the meat products industry dropped almost 20% between 1995 and 1999. This is one indicator of the improved working conditions and systems in meat processing companies. The positive developments have encouraged more and more meat industries to adopt AMR, thus reducing dependence on vibrating, hand-held knives.

In 1994, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified that the product from AMR systems was the same as meat and this made AMR even more popular. However, certain sections of the industry are still in favor of the conventional vibrational, hand-held knives. It is pointed out that AMR-based meat cannot meet the standards specified by USDA at affordable costs. Hence many meat companies may resort of hand-held knives. It is also argued that over the years, there have been marked improvements in the design of these knives, which will significantly reduce the risk of cumulative trauma disorders.

Safety and health risks due to equipment and machinery:

Modern techniques in meat processing often include the use of mechanized equipment such as flakers, choppers, mincers and millers. The equipment involves running parts such as rotating knives and blades, which are used for cutting frozen or unfrozen meat. In the absence of proper conditions or if the operation is faulty, then the meat quality can deteriorate. For instance, the block flaker requires temperatures of -2 to - 4 C. At higher temperatures, the meat starts to tear even without cutting; at lower temperatures, the flakes crumble, thus affecting the shape of the meat. Workers operating this equipment on a day-to-day basis are constantly exposed to the risk of injuries that can result due to failure or breakdown of equipment. Accidents while operating rotating equipment can cause damage of limbs or other parts of the body, rendering permanent disability. The mechanized equipment is efficient, but also presents safety risks. Overheating, overloading and misuse of equipment can lead to failure, breakage and explosions. Such incidents not only affect the meat that is being processed, but also the workers operating the system. (Jones, 1992, p.20)

Chillers and refrigerators are used in meat processing to maintain temperatures close to the freezing point of water. For attaining low temperatures, refrigerant gases are used. The main equipment includes a compressor for pressurizing of refrigerant gas, a condenser for liquefaction of the compressed gas and an evaporator, for vaporizing the liquefied gas. In the process of vaporization, the liquefied gas draws heat from the surroundings and thus produced low temperatures. Although the refrigerant gas operates in a closed system, it tends to escape out of system leaks, thus exposing the workers. The use of chlorinated fluoro-hydrocarbons has been phased out, however partially chlorinated and fluorinated hydrocarbons are still used and it may take two more decades before these are fully substituted with hydro-fluoro carbons. Ammonia, which was once displaced by chlorinated fluoro carbons, has now made a strong come and is being used on a large scale. While ammonia is cost effective and gives good performance, it is highly toxic and can cause health problems. Butane is another gas that is finding increasing acceptance, but the main drawback is its flammable characteristic, which can result in fire and explosions, if handled in an improper manner. (Jones, 1992, p.21)

Plant inspection:

To ensure incident free operations round the year, meat processing units must be subjected to periodical operational and safety audits. The purpose of these audits is to identify unsafe and potentially hazardous systems and practices in the plant. The Health and Safety Executive of the UK has identified priority areas in health and safety of meat processing industry: (1) prevention of fatal accidents and ensuring safe access for maintenance work at heights (2) ensure safety precautions are in place for manual handling (3) prevention of slips, elimination of wet and greasy floors (4) prevent knife injuries (5) safeguarding of machinery (6) safe condition of stairs (7) safe use of ladders. (HSE, 1997) typical audit plan for the meat industry would necessarily include most of the following points (Chesworth, 1997, p.21):

All equipment surfaces, especially those in direct contact with food must be clean and 'inert' to contamination and microbial attack

Equipment must be in good operating condition, safe and reliable; for instance, pumps must be so designed and installed that they can be easily cleaned

Connecting pipelines should be easy to dismantle for clean and quickly re-assembled; the pipeline network design should enable complete sterilization so as to eliminate microbial growth and transfer along the pipelines

Conveyor belts which come into contact with the food, must be made of hygienic materials and not be contaminated

Wooden equipment to be discouraged

Good housekeeping of the plant, to ensure that nuts, bolts and other small objects do not mingle with the meat and meat products

Safe electrical network

Availability of water from safe sources

It is clear that the meat industry is highly risk-intensive. Consequently, it is also quality centric, which means that the final quality of the processed meat offered to consumers is the most significant factor that drives the entire industry. Over the years, the food industry has adopted formal quality management systems to meet the requirements of customers at national and international levels. One of the most popular risk assessment tools is the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) System, which helps food industries to conduct audits for identifying hazards. In this terminology, the critical control point is regarded as an operation, to include practice, procedure, location or process, at which control can be exercised over one or more factors to eliminate, prevent or minimize a hazard. Hazard analysis represents the evaluation of all procedures connected with the production, distribution and use of raw materials with the objectives of: (a) identifying potentially hazardous raw materials and foods that may contain poisonous substances, pathogens or other micro-organisms that can support microbial growth (b) identifying the potential source and specific points of re-contamination - evaluation of the probability that micro-organisms will survive or multiply during meat processing and (d) assessing the risks and degree of the identified hazards. (Crossland, 1997, p.73)

The HACCP is based on seven principles: (1) conduct a hazard analysis (2) identify the critical control points (3) establish target levels and tolerances for each critical control point (4) monitoring system to ensure control of CCP (5) establish corrective action, where necessary to ensure that the CCP does not move out of control (6) establish documentation and (7) establish verification procedures to ensure that the HACCP is working effectively. (Codex Alimentarius Commission, 1993, p.3) These seven principles apply to all cases; however the practical application of these principles may from plant to plant depending on the complexity of the plant under review. It is important the scope of HACCP study is clearly defined and measurable objectives are set. Implementation of HACCP is done by a team within the company, usually comprising of employees with different job profiles and expertise in various areas. Where the required technical expertise is not available, companies can seek external expert advice and assistance.