Presence and Numbers of Campylobacter,Escherichia coli,and Salmonella Determined in Broiler Carcass Rinses from United States Processing Plants in the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point-Based Inspection Models Project

In 1999, the USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service introduced an inspection system called the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point-Based Inspection Models Project (HIMP). The HIMP varies from standard inspection in that the emphasis of Food Safety and Inspection Service inspection program personnel is shifted. Each carcass is still visually inspected according to the Poultry Products Inspection Act, but some responsibility for food safety and identification and removal of defects is shifted from the regulatory agency to the processor, freeing up inspectors to more effectively verify the process and food safety system of the establishment. This survey was conducted in 2 stages: first to examine carcasses collected in HIMP and non-HIMP plants and then to test carcasses from all 20 volunteer plants currently operating under HIMP inspection. Carcasses were collected at rehang and postchill being careful to follow the same flock through processing. Postchill carcasses from HIMP plants were found to have equal bacterial contamination (numbers of Campylobacter and Escherichia coli and presence of Salmonella) as carcasses from standard HACCP plants. Overall, HIMP inspection, which places additional responsibility on the plant for process control, does not affect the microbiological quality of fully processed broiler carcasses.