New food safety initiatives in the Food Safety and Inspection Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture

The production of meat and poultry products has become increasingly complex. Technological growth has contributed to the need for sophistication in determining the origin and risk of food-borne microbial infections as well as environmental contaminants. The increasing use of agricultural chemicals in animal production and to some extent in processed foods has led to the presence of chemical residues in meat and poultry. These changes have caused the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), a public health agency within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), to institute new food safety initiatives and procedures for inspection of meat and poultry products. The goal is to reduce risks to the public health from conditions observed during antemortem and postmortem inspection or detected during processing. FSIS is committed to scientific innovation and has implemented several rapid inplant tests that have given the Agency inexpensive, less disruptive methods to determine product adulteration contamination.     

Residues of chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in pork and ham in past years and today

The contents of the residues of chlorinated pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) were investigated in 682 samples of ham and 926 samples of pork that were collected in the export meat plants. The investigation, based on the gas chromatography method with an EC detector, was performed in 1986. The tolerance of the residues of chlorinated pesticides was exceeded in 0.4% of the hams and 0.3% of the pork samples in that year. The PCB limit, proposed for pork (1.0 mg per kg of fat) was exceeded in 0.7% of the hams and 0.8% of pork samples; it can be seen from these data that the residue contents were considerably reduced in comparison with the year 1983 when this limit was exceeded in 7.0% of the hams and 6.2% of the pork samples. This decrease is due to the fact that the production of PCB was stopped, their use has been restricted, and the persons working with preparations containing PCB have been better informed about the chemical persistence, problems of residues and the like. The meat of wild boars is more contaminated than is the meat of the domestic pigs reared in large herds; this applies, first of all, to the residues of the DDT series (12.7% of the meat samples of the wild boars exceeded the limit of 2.0 mg per kg of fat) and also to the residues of HCB, lindane, and PCB. As for the PCB residues, the maximum tolerated residue content was never exceeded. A decrease in the contents of chlorinated pesticide and PCB residues resulting from the limited use of these chemicals is faster in the meat of the domestic pigs than in that of the wild boars.     

中国与欧盟和美国禽肉、禽蛋中兽药残留限量标准的对比研究

【目的】 为推进中国食品安全监控体系建设及完善相关的法规标准提供参考,保障食品安全的同时提升中国禽肉、禽蛋产品在国际市场的竞争力,打破国际技术性贸易壁垒,促进国际禽产品贸易繁荣发展。【方法】 首先对比分析中国新发布的食品安全国家标准GB 31650－2019《食品安全国家标准食品中兽药最大残留限量》及已废除的农业部公告第235号《动物性食品中兽药最高残留限量》中有关禽肉、禽蛋的兽药残留种类和兽药最大残留限量（MRLs）标准;然后对中国新国家标准与欧盟和美国在禽肉、禽蛋的兽药残留种类区别和MRLs标准的严宽程度等几项内容进行了对比分析。【结果】 中国新国家标准对旧标准进行了一定程度上的补充与修改,大部分有关禽肉、禽蛋的MRLs标准与欧盟和美国的标准相同甚至更加严格,这标志着中国兽药残留标准体系进入了新阶段,但部分兽药的MRLs标准仍与欧盟和美国的标准存在一定差异,其中共有包括双氯西林在内的33种兽药的MRLs标准缺失或宽于欧盟和美国。【结论】 未来中国仍需结合禽肉、禽蛋的生产情况、兽药实际使用情况及人民消费升级的需求,进一步完善禽肉、禽蛋产品中兽药残留限量的相关标准,使其向国际标准靠拢,提高中国禽肉、禽蛋产品在国际市场上的竞争力,并对进出口产品中兽药的残留情况进行严格监控,防止其影响消费者的健康安全和禽肉、禽蛋的国际贸易发展。     

禽蛋和禽肉中兽药残留检测技术研究进展

随着我国家禽产业的规模不断扩大,兽药残留问题也更加严峻。兽药残留对人体与环境危害重大。现对目前禽蛋和禽肉中常见的兽药残留种类及最大残留限量进行综述,探讨了(超)高效液相色谱法、(超)高效液相色谱-质谱法、气相色谱-质谱法和免疫学检测法、分子印迹技术、生物芯片技术、生物传感器检测法在禽蛋和禽肉中的应用价值,以期为兽药残留检测和监管提供依据。     

Evaluation of certification in the Milk and Dairy Beef Quality Assurance Program and associated factors on the risk of having violative antibiotic residues in milk from dairy farms in Michigan

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether certification in a Milk and Dairy Beef Quality Assurance Program (MDBQAP) was associated with a reduced risk of having antibiotic residues in milk and to define specific management factors that may have predisposed dairy farms to having violative antibiotic residues in milk. SAMPLE POPULATION: 124 dairy farms in Michigan that had > 1 violative residue in milk during 1993 and 248 randomly selected control farms in Michigan that did not have violative residues in milk during 1993. PROCEDURE: A pretested structured questionnaire was mailed to case and control farms. A conditional multivariate logistic regression model was developed to determine risk factors associated with having a violative antibiotic residue in milk. RESULTS: Certification in the MDBQAP did not significantly reduce the risk of having a violative antibiotic residue. Annual treatment of > 10% of a herd for metritis was associated with a reduced risk of having a violative residue. Evidence suggested that a routine request for a milk processor to perform residue testing was associated with a decreased risk of having had a violative antibiotic residue, but routine on-farm residue testing was associated with an increased risk of having had a residue. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: MDBQAP certification was associated, although not significantly, with a reduced risk of having violative antibiotic residues in milk. Risk factors significantly associated with violative antibiotic residues are addressed by various critical control points in the MDBQAP and may be indicators for strengths and weaknesses of MDBQAP.     

Sulfonamide residues in pork: past, present, and future

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been involved for a number of years with the problem of sulfonamide residues in pork. In the 1970s, concern was raised regarding the use of sulfonamides when food safety criteria used for premarketing approval of new animal drugs and the safety data base for sulfonamides were found to be inadequate. Regulatory analytical methods for monitoring sulfonamides were developed and put to use by FSIS. With educational efforts by government and industry, by 1980 it was thought that the problem was being solved. In the 1980s, however, the sulfonamide violation rate began to increase; the USDA strengthened its educational programs, developed a rapid test for sulfonamides and pursued regulatory initiatives. By 1987 sulfonamide violations in liver tissue (i.e., greater than .1 ppm) had declined to 3.8%; however, new toxicological information associating sulfamethazine with the development of follicular cell adenomas of the thyroid gland in rats and mice led the FSIS to begin an enhanced sulfamethazine control program in the spring of 1988. The FSIS believes that production quality assurance is the key to prevention. The Agency's initiatives toward this end are designed both to encourage industry accountability and to provide disincentives for violators. The current approaches to the sulfonamide problem hold the clear promise of a satisfactory solution.     

Explosive increase in Salmonella java in poultry. Consequences for public health

In the Netherlands S. Paratyphi B variation Java increased in poultry from less than 2% of all isolates before 1996 up to 40% in 2001. This development in poultry runs in parallel with that in Germany and appears not to occur in other European countries. A German study shows that in the late nineties it concerns isolates of only one multi-resistant clone of Java (in Holland as well) whilst isolates before the middle nineties were genetically much more heterogeneous and sensitive to antibiotics. Although the exposition of humans to contaminated poultry meat is relatively high, human patients with a Java infection are rare. Treatment of poultry flocks with quinolones was about 13% in 2000-2001. Resistance to flumequin of Java increased from 3% between 1996-1999 to 20% between 2000-2002 whilst that of other serotypes in poultry remained about 7%. Java is also fast becoming less sensitive to ciprofloxacin which is the antibiotic of first choice in serious cases of salmonellosis. The ministries of public health, agriculture and the production boards, with their research institutes, together with the poultry meat production chain integrations have recently decided to work together in order to determine the public health importance of the Java epidemic in poultry and finding measures for effective control in the poultry industry.     

Sulfamethazine residues in swine

Two possible causes of violative sulfonamide residues in swine were studied. To determine if sulfamethazine accumulated in the tissues of swine when the drug was administered in feed, the rates of plasma drug disappearance following a single oral dose and continuous feeding of the drug were compared. The rate of plasma drug disappearance was not significantly different (α= 0.05) when the two methods of drug dosing were compared. When feed containing 2 μg sulfamethazine/gm was fed to swine during a 7—day period preceding slaughter, the animal's liver contained violative residues. Violative concentrations of sulfamethazine were detected in the livers, kidneys, and skeletal muscle of swine which consumed feed containing 8 μg sulfamethazine/gm.     

Foreign substances in the meat and organs of bulls fed on a diet of swine and poultry fecal waste

The meat and some organs of eight bulls given diet with 5% to 15% supplements of dried pig and poultry excrements for 175 days were subjected to examination for the presence of some foreign substances. The results were compared with samples from eight control bulls, fed the basal diet. Liver was not found to contain any aflatoxins B1 and M1. No statistically significant differences were found in the content of antimicrobial substances. The same can be said of the content of chlorinated pesticides. Residues of organo-phosphorus pesticides were not detected at all. As to chemical elements, the test bulls were found to have a significantly increased content of copper in liver and diaphragm. All the findings of the residues of foreign substances were within limits tolerated by veterinary regulations.     

Occurrence of sulfa drug residues in canadian pork liver

Sulfonamide residues in the livers of wholesome carcasses of Canadian pork were monitored over the six year period ending March 31, 1985. The annual rate of violative residues decreased from 9.92% to 2.75% over the course of the six years. At present the incidence of violation in the livers is 2.35% and there is no significant difference within the various regions of Canada. This would result in a muscle violative rate of 0.8%.

The only sulfonamide found at violative levels was sulfamethazine. All violative samples were within the range 0.11-4.00 ppm. Over the period of the survey the incidence of violations at all levels decreased. Violations at higher levels decreased most rapidly resulting in a continuous reduction of the mean level in violative samples.

     

Foreign substances in the meat and organs of bulls and pigs fed with pastes made from household and food industry waste in addition to pastes made from poultry droppings

The residues of antimicrobial substances, some chlorinated and organophosphate pesticides and chemical elements were studied in the meat and organs of a group of bulls fed food-waste paste for 240 days and a group of bulls fed the same paste with an addition of poultry waste. These residues were also studied in the tissues of pigs fed the food-waste paste for 135 and 151 days until slaughter. The feed ingredients were also examined during the feeding trials. Although some of the residues under study were found in the tissues of the test animals at increased amounts, their concentrations were diluted in the tissues in the majority of cases when the feed pastes were administered. All residue contents recorded in the tissues remained below the permissible limits as given in valid instructions and directives so that the products, i. e. meat and organs, could be deemed digestible on the basis of hygienic evaluation. Hence, from the point of view of the occurrence of residues of foreign substances in edible tissues, the administration of food-waste pastes to farm animals can be considered as admissible.     

Lipopigment in the adipose tissue of slaughtered swine

After feeding rests of slaughtered poultry together with whey, tapioca and residues of stark production to pigs 70% of the slaughtered pigs were refused by the meat inspection because of yellow fat and yellow hair. The occurrence of bile pigment, carotenoids and synthetic colours could be excluded while acid fast pigments were demonstrated in the fat tissue, liver and skeleton muscle. This could be confirmed by the peroxide number, acid number and the content of malondialdehyde and vitamin E. The results were discussed in the view of meat inspection laws.     

广西主要动物源性产品中磺胺二甲嘧啶残留调查与分析

为了解广西动物源性产品中磺胺二甲嘧啶（SM₂）残留情况，本研究采用磺胺二甲嘧啶化学发光酶免疫分析法（SM₂-CLEIA）对2013-2017年采集的4 637份动物源性产品进行检测，共检出超标样品122份，涉及鲜乳、猪肉、水产品和猪尿，其中超标猪尿92份，SM₂含量100.51~860.44 μg/kg，猪尿中抗生素残留会污染水体、土壤，再通过动植物的富集作用进入食物链，危害人类健康，应引起重视；而本次受检的水牛奶、鸡肝脏、鸭肝脏、鸭肉均合格。所有受检样品超标率逐年下降，同时规模化养殖场样品合格率高于农村散养户、超市高于农贸市场。不同年份超标样品含量以2014年最高。采用食品安全指数（IFS）对广西动物源性食品中SM₂残留风险进行评估，结果均远小于1，说明在广西地区，现有的SM₂残留对人体的潜在危害较低。     

Prevalence of antimicrobial residues in pork meat in Madagascar

Residual antimicrobials in food constitute a risk to human health, but poor knowledge is available about the significance of contaminated meat in developing countries. The purpose of the study was to determine the occurrence of antimicrobial drug residues in pork products in Madagascar. The occurrence of antimicrobial drug residues in pork meat were investigated by the Premi® test (DSM^©) technique. There was a high incidence rate of drug residues, with 360 (37.2 %) meat samples being contaminated. A significant increase was observed between 2010 and 2011, with 32 and 39%, respectively. Pork meat samples are less contaminated by drug residues when animals are slaughtered in urban abattoirs (34.4%) vs in provincial abattoirs (42.2%), suggesting that animals under treatment (or sick) are sold preferentially in local abattoir. Drug residue levels in pork meats purchased in Madagascar appear to be serious public health problem at the moment.     

Organic poultry production in the United States: Broilers

Since the USDA implemented the National Organic Program, the growth of the organic food market has continued to increase, with organic poultry as leading products. Organic livestock husbandry practices focus on living conditions that permit natural behaviors and provide outdoor access, preventive health management with a prohibition of antibiotics or other drugs (although vaccines can be used), and organic feed. Organic feed is raised without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides; pastures to which birds have access must also be organic. Hatcheries are currently not required to be organic, and conventional chicks may be used if they are under organic management by the second day after hatching. Although alternative, slow-growing genotypes are used in organic production in the European Union, conventional genetics are used in the United States. Poultry products, including meat and eggs, must be handled organically. Most synthetic materials are not permitted in organic food production, whereas most natural materials are; however, the National Organic Program National List specifies which materials are allowed. Of particular interest is an impending ban on the use of synthetic methionine in organic poultry diets. Research in the United States has examined alternative strategies, including the use of slow-growing broilers that are less heavily muscled than conventional fast-growing meat birds, but has not shown these birds to have lower methionine requirements. Research has also examined sensory differences between specialty and conventional meat chickens in the United States. Consumer panelists indicated no preference between these products, although trained panelists found some differences in the flavor of thigh meat. More meat quality differences were due to genotype than to outdoor access. Breast meat from slow-growing birds was more tender than that from fast-growing birds. Outdoor access resulted in leaner meat, but only in the case of slow-growing birds. As interest grows in specialty and organic poultry meat products, additional research is needed.     

Transfer of fat-soluble pesticides from contaminated feed to poultry tissues and eggs

1. Implementation of Good Manufacturing Practice and HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points) in the production of poultry feed requires efficient tools for profiling risks associated with pesticide use in the production of crops for feed. 2. This paper describes a simple model that may be of use in the first tiers of risk profiling of feeds. 3. The model adequately reproduced the pattern of residues in fat and eggs of laying hens dosed with a selection of lipophilic pesticides that may be used in the production of crops for poultry feeds: deltamethrin, diflubenzuron, fipronil, lindane, piperonyl butoxide and spinosad. 4. Simulations suggest results derived from studies on laying chickens can be extrapolated to other laying birds. 5. Poultry meat production systems focus on maximising growth of birds giving rise to significant potential for dilution of residues that transfer to fat from feed. 6. Simulations of residues in fat of chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys exposed to a lipophilic pesticide with an elimination half-life of one day at 10 mg/kg body weight/d from hatching to typical market ages suggest residues in fat that are highest in turkeys > chickens > geese > ducks. 7. The model is of use in interpreting published dosing studies and predicting likely residues in birds at times after last exposure/dosing.     

Association between measures of milk quality and risk of violative antimicrobial residues in grade-A raw milk

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether bulk-tank standard plate counts or plate loop counts and bulk-tank somatic cell counts (SCC) were associated with detection of violative antimicrobial residues in milk from dairy cattle. DESIGN: Longitudinal study. PROCEDURE: Information for 1994 through 1997 was obtained from a large milk marketing cooperative that operated in multiple states throughout the northeastern and midwestern United States (16,831 herd-years of information from 6,546 farms) and from the Ohio Department of Agriculture Grade-A Milk Certification Program (12,042 herd-years of information from 4,022 farms). Data were analyzed by use of multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: For both data sets, odds that a violative antibiotic residue would be detected increased as mean SCC for the herd-year increased. Standard plate counts and plate loop counts were not associated with odds that a violative antibiotic residue would be detected. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Results of this study suggested that the odds that a violative antibiotic residue would be found in bulk-tank milk increased as mean SCC for the herd-year increased. This suggests that management practices that would be expected to influence SCC may also influence the risk of antibiotic residue violations.     

The detection of Clostridium botulinum in fecal samples of cattle and swine and in the raw material and animal meal of different animal body rendering plants

Fecal samples of cattle and swine and samples of raw material and pulverized dehydrated meat taken from three rendering plants were investigated with special enrichment methods on the presence of Clostridium botulinum to get a view about the hygienic risk by the incidence of C. botulinum in rendering plants. Eight-six specimens were examined: 25 fecal specimens each of swine and cattle, 11 of raw material and 25 of pulverized dehydrated meat of three rendering plants. Twelve specimens contained C. botulinum: 7 fecal specimens, 6 of swine and one of cattle, 4 raw material specimens and one of pulverized dehydrated meat. C. botulinum was detected by its toxin production in culture medium. Six times C. botulinum type E, twice C. botulinum type B and one time C. botulinum type C was identified. C. botulinum could not be typed in other cases because the toxin quantities were too small. C. botulinum type E was detected in raw material and pulverized dehydrated meat in one of the three examined rendering plants.     

An integrated experimental and physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling study of penicillin G in heavy sows

Penicillin G is widely used in food‐producing animals at extralabel doses and is one of the most frequently identified violative drug residues in animal‐derived food products. In this study, the plasma pharmacokinetics and tissue residue depletion of penicillin G in heavy sows after repeated intramuscular administrations at label (6.5 mg/kg) and 5 × label (32.5 mg/kg) doses were determined. Plasma, urine, and environmental samples were tested as potential antemortem markers for penicillin G residues. The collected new data and other available data from the literature were used to develop a population physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) model for penicillin G in heavy sows. The results showed that antemortem testing of urine provided potential correlation with tissue residue levels. Based on the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety and Inspection Service action limit of 25 ng/g, the model estimated a withdrawal interval of 38 days for penicillin G in heavy sows after 3 repeated intramuscular injections at 5 × label dose. This study improves our understanding of penicillin G pharmacokinetics and tissue residue depletion in heavy sows and provides a tool to predict proper withdrawal intervals after extralabel use of penicillin G in heavy sows, thereby helping safety assessment of sow‐derived meat products.     

Characterization of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in rendered animal products.

Antibiotics are used in food animal production to treat diseases and also to improve performance. Antibiotics are not used on all farms, and antibiotic resistance is occasionally found on farms that do not use antibiotics. Rendered animal protein products are often included in poultry feeds and could potentially serve as a source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. One hundred sixty-five rendered animal protein products from cattle, poultry, and fish were aseptically collected from poultry feed mills. Fifty-five percent of the poultry meal samples had detectable levels of gram-negative bacteria ranging from 40 to 10,440 colony-forming units/g of sample. Poultry meal and meat and bone meal had the greatest number of samples with bacteria resistant to five or more antibiotics. A high percentage of feed samples (85%) contained bacteria resistant to amoxicillin, ampicillin, clavulanic acid, or cephalothin, whereas few samples contained bacteria resistant to ciprofloxacin, kanamycin, or trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, Citrobacter freundii, and Enterobacter cloacae were the most commonly isolated antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Isolation for Salmonella was also performed, with 14% of the meat and bone meal samples containing Salmonella sp. Only one of the meat and bone meal isolates, Salmonella livingstone, was resistant to five or more antibiotics. Many of the antibiotic-resistant bacteria contained integrons, genetic elements that mediate multiple drug resistance.