Hathaway S C
Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Regulatory Authority, Gisborne, New Zealand.
Rev Sci Tech. 1997 Aug;16(2):382-90. doi: 10.20506/rst.16.2.1025.
Beef production in New Zealand has characteristics typical of a temperate climate and pasture-based animal husbandry. The specific pathogens which may contaminate fresh beef and which are empirically considered to be of public health importance are similar to those in other countries with temperate climates, i.e. Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes and Toxoplasma gondii. With the exception of T. gondii, it is likely that almost all transmission of these hazards through consumption of beef results from unseen microbial cross-contamination from gastrointestinal sources during slaughter, dressing and further processing. Gaining comprehensive information on carcass contamination levels is an essential first step in establishing food safety objectives for a particular beef production system, and in designing risk-based hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) plans. It is likely that the lower mean and maximum numbers of indicator micro-organisms on New Zealand carcasses (when compared with other countries) are in part due to the pre-slaughter cleanliness status of cattle reared under temperate, pasture conditions. Similarly, the failure to detect specific pathogens of gastrointestinal origin in a comprehensive baseline survey most probably reflects the limited pathway for faecal contamination during slaughter and dressing under processing conditions in New Zealand. The New Zealand example provides strong evidence for the need to design HACCP plans according to the specific national (or regional) situation. Reducing all pathways for faecal contamination of products to the maximum extent practicable will be the most important factor in achieving desired food safety objectives for fresh beef. Variable densities of microbial pathogens in gastrointestinal contents are also likely to have a significant effect on subsequent contamination levels of beef carcasses: however, effective controls for limiting the presence of most pathogens of concern in the live animal have yet to be identified.
新西兰的牛肉生产具有温带气候和以牧场为基础的畜牧业的典型特征。可能污染新鲜牛肉且经经验认为对公众健康具有重要意义的特定病原体与其他温带气候国家的病原体相似，即沙门氏菌、弯曲杆菌、大肠杆菌O157:H7、单核细胞增生李斯特菌和弓形虫。除弓形虫外，这些危害通过食用牛肉的几乎所有传播可能是由于在屠宰、修整和进一步加工过程中来自胃肠道来源的看不见的微生物交叉污染。获取有关胴体污染水平的全面信息是为特定牛肉生产系统确定食品安全目标以及设计基于风险的危害分析和关键控制点（HACCP）计划的重要第一步。新西兰胴体上指示微生物的平均数量和最大数量较低（与其他国家相比），部分原因可能是在温带牧场条件下饲养的牛在屠宰前的清洁状况。同样，在一项全面的基线调查中未能检测到源自胃肠道的特定病原体，很可能反映了新西兰加工条件下屠宰和修整过程中粪便污染的途径有限。新西兰的例子为根据具体国家（或地区）情况设计HACCP计划的必要性提供了有力证据。在可行的最大程度上减少产品粪便污染的所有途径将是实现新鲜牛肉所需食品安全目标的最重要因素。胃肠道内容物中微生物病原体的密度变化也可能对随后牛肉胴体的污染水平产生重大影响：然而，尚未确定有效控制措施来限制活体动物中大多数相关病原体的存在。
