From farm to fork, ensuring safe meat consumption
For meat lovers, ensuring safety before indulging in your favourite dishes is crucial. Proper storage and handling of meat can prevent bacteria from spreading, reducing the risk of foodborne illnesses. These illnesses, caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites or chemical contamination, can lead to severe health issues.
Maintaining meat safety from farm to fork is vital for public health and requires a comprehensive approach across the entire meat supply chain. It’s essential to store raw meat or poultry in clean, sealed containers on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator to prevent it from touching or dripping onto other foods. While cooking meat at high temperatures, as commonly practiced in Indian kitchens, effectively kills most harmful bacteria, it’s equally important to ensure meat is cooked to a safe internal temperature and to follow proper food safety guidelines to avoid foodborne illnesses.
“Safety protocols must be observed at both the producer and consumer levels. Producers need to implement rigorous practices from farm to processing, while consumers must adhere to safe handling and cooking procedures to prevent foodborne illnesses,” emphasised Dr JPS Gill, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU).
Dr Gill further explained that ensuring the health of animals before slaughter is crucial. These animals should be transported hygienically to modern, well-equipped slaughterhouses where they undergo thorough inspections. Humane slaughter methods are essential in preventing contamination and handlers must follow strict hygienic protocols during the process.
Dr Nitin, Associate Professor of Livestock Product Technology, elaborated on the importance of veterinary inspection before slaughter, also known as ante-mortem inspection. This involves examining live animals to ensure they are healthy and fit for slaughter, preventing diseased or unsuitable animals from entering the food chain. While this is a standard procedure in the organised sector, it is often not followed in the unorganised sector.
“In slaughterhouses, maintaining stringent cleanliness standards and proper temperature control is critical in preventing microbial growth. After processing, meat must be packaged correctly to preserve its freshness and ensure safety. Testing for harmful pathogens such as Salmonella, E coli, Listeria and Campylobacter is essential,” Dr Nitin added.
When transporting meat from processing facilities to retail outlets, strict cold chain management is necessary to preserve meat quality. Distribution centres and retail outlets must enforce rigorous temperature control and hygiene practices. Proper labelling is also crucial, providing consumers with information about the meat’s origin, production date, expiration and safe handling instructions.
Achieving meat safety from farm to fork requires a holistic approach, focusing on animal health, hygienic processing, temperature control, safe transportation and consumer education. “At GADVASU, we regularly host workshops to raise awareness about occupational exposure to zoonotic diseases and promote good hygiene and sanitation practices in the workplace,” said Dr Nitin.
Punjab