Andrew Perry
Exam 1 Essay
9/21/2015
The safety of meat and poultry is a topic that has been debated for a number of years. Contamination is especially a concern when raising cattle and turkey for food. A recent article from DiGregorio (2013) highlights a debate over the safety of ground turkey sold in U.S. supermarkets. According to the Consumer’s Union in the article, a large percentage of ground turkey was found to be contaminated with fecal-associated bacteria, such as Escherichia coli, Enterococcus, along with other types of pathogens, such as Salmonella and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (DiGregorio 2013). Some of the bacteria found in the turkey were also found to be resistant to a number of antibiotics (DiGregorio
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aureus from the meat samples were resistant to at least one antibiotic (Waters et al. 2011). Fifty-two percent of the strains were found to be multi-drug resistant, meaning they were resistant to three or more antibiotics (Waters et al. 2011). These types of strains were most commonly found in the turkey samples with 79% of the samples containing the pathogen (Waters et al. 2011). The findings of the authors’ study demonstrate the concern over the use of antibiotics in raising meat and measures should be taken in order to reduce meat contamination and improve the health of the …show more content…
(1981) examines the incidence of Salmonella contamination in turkeys that are raised in Salmonella controlled environments and in conventional environments in order to reduce contamination. According to the authors’ conclusion, it is possible to identify flocks of turkeys that are heavily contaminated with Salmonella and schedule the flocks for later slaughter in order to reduce cross-contamination with other flocks (Campbell et al. 1981). Likewise, flocks with little to no contamination may be scheduled for earlier slaughter in order to reduce contamination (Campbell et al.
Reducing the risk of salmonellosis from these farms would include food safety practices such as: washing eggs and hands thoroughly, making sure that the farm is kept in good condition, feeding the chickens good food, and using fresh water
Wash kitchen work surfaces and utensils with soap and water immediately after they have been in contact with raw meat or poultry. The client must understand that uncooked meat and poultry should be kept separate from produce, cooked foods and ready to eat foods. People with salmonellosis should not prepare food or pour water for others until their diarrhea has been resolved too.
Salmonella is one danger that has caused many effects to consumers. Walsh writes about one incident when an outbreak “from tainted peanuts that killed at least eight people and sickened 600,” (Walsh 167). This incident left many people asking the same question, how can we trust the food that we put into our bodies? Salmonella, a type of food poisoning caused by bacteria found on different food types has caused an epidemic because of its domino effect on food and our health. Once one factory is contaminated, that factory could be housing both crops and meat, which is then transferred to our supermarkets and on our dinner tables. ...
"Record-High Antibiotic Sales for Meat and Poultry Production." pewhealth.org. The Pew Charitable Trust, 6 Feb. 2013. Web. 20 May 2014. .
However, health concerned organizations want to ban the use of these products due to the increasing fears that they can cause harm to the consumers. For over 50 years, antibiotics have been added to the food of animals such as poultry, cattle and pigs. The main purpose for doing so is to lower the risk of disease in animals. Farm animals are housed together in overcrowded areas, which are very dirty. The hygiene level can get to such a poor state that they are often in contact with their own excreta as well as excreta of the other animals they are housed with and because of tight single air space they share, the likelihood of catching diseases from one another is further increased and very often a whole heard can be infected at one time.
The Perdue Farms is an American business corporation which has specialized in the processing of chicken as well as turkey together with pork products ("Perdue Farms Homepage : Company History, Corporate Responsibility and More", n.d.). Just as other production companies, this corporation is involved in practices that place the surrounding conditions at risk and hence it calls for correct precautionary activities which must be adopted as well as implemented to avoid potential risks to the environment. Processing of meat results to the release of harmful fatty substances together with other macrobiotic biodegradable substances that are much harmless but require to be monitored together with disposed of in an appropriate manner.
Not only eating turkey could cause problems for the world, for your own health too.
Meat cultivation uses more land, water and resources to house, transport, and slaughter animals and their grain and food than it would cost to fund in vitro meat studies. In April 2008 the In Vitro Consortium first met at the Norwegian Food Research Institute. The consortium is “an international alliance of environmentally concerned scientists striving to facilitate the establishment of a large scale process industry for the production of muscle tissue for human consumption through concerted R&D efforts and attraction of funding fuels to these efforts. ”Meat in both its production and its consumption has a number of destructive effects on not only the environment and humans but also live stock. Some of these effects are antibiotic resistant bacteria due to the overuse of antibiotics in livestock, meat-borne pathogens (e. coli), and diseases associated with diets rich in animal fats (diabetes).
N., Mahmoud, I. Y., Al-Musharafi, S. K., & Sivakumar, N. (2014). Staphylococcus aureus contamination during food preparation, processing and handling. International Journal of Chemical Engineering and Applications, 5(5), 388–392. doi:10.7763/ijcea.2014.v5.415
The growth of microbiological organisms is highly affected by temperature. The microorganisms that may be present on meat products are mesophilic pathogens that grow at temperatures between 7 and 37°C (AFFCO, 2003). This growth range is referred to as the mesophile window, or the range where enteric pathogens are able to proliferate readily (AFFCO, 2003). Meat processing plants are therefore able to adequately control bacterial growth during the production process by regulating the product temperature. MPI imposes regulations for carcass and product cooling where all meat processors follow standard time/temperature regimes and/or meat Process Hygiene Index (NZFSA, 2004). The standard time/temperature regimes were derived from good manufacturing practice, which have been shown to produce microbiologically safe products. At AFFCO Horotiu, a preservation programme is in place where cooling of carcasses and product immediately after slaughter has been reduced to 7°C in order to meet compliance with industry standards.
Contamination of poultry meat with foodborne pathogens remains an important public health issue, because it can show the way to illness if there are malpractices in handling, cooking or post-cooking storage of the product. In developed countries, foodborne illness causes human suffering and loss of productivity, and adds significantly to the costs of food production and healthcare. It is also a possible cause of mortality, which is even more of a problem in developing regions, where the health status of many individuals is already compromised.
"Bacteria is of concern with any food, as improper handling and storage can lead to the growth of these germs in food. Betsy Farms uses a unique process to reduce the risk of bacteria contamination. The poultry is cook at a temperature high enough to ensure the bacteria is eliminated. This is done before the poultry is pulverized and mixed with other ingredients. The finished product is then cooked againto assure product integrity," staff members
To begin with, raising livestock and producing meat is greatly contributing to contamination of the world. The population of the world is growing, and it is prompting an increase in livestock. Mor...
In 2013, a bacterium was found in New Zealand that was resistant to every single antibiotic known to man. New Zealand's leading microbiologist said the country might be setback 100 years when disease-causing bacteria eventually becomes immune to antibiotics. The World Health Organization has said that in 10 years, antibiotics will no longer effectively treat bacterial diseases (Su, 2014). Selection of resistant microorganisms is exacerbated by inappropriate use of antimicrobials. Animal husbandry is the agricultural science of breeding and farming of farm animals. It is a source of resistance because sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics are used in animal-rearing for promoting growth or preventing diseases. Injecting antibiotics into farm animals
The main focus of the researches here is the agricultural sciences. At the first, my goal was to continue study antimicrobial compounds to use in animal health. However, due to cases of depression in my family, I would like to use my knowledge in Microbiology to study this.