Thermal Processing of Ready-to-eat Meat Products
March 13-15, 2007
The Ohio State University

Food safety hazards generally can be categorized as microbiological, chemical or physical. Most of the principles of safety revolve around the avoidance of entry, harborage or build-up in the facility ... of anything that doesn't belong, be it microbiological hazards, insects, rodents, plain old dirt, even unauthorized personnel. This principle is especially important at the points in the process where the product that will be ultimately consumed is most vulnerable. It is critically important to remove all food particles, and to prevent bacterial ingress, survival, growth and reproduction on both product and non-product contact surfaces. Essential to the concept of a sanitary design is thorough cleanability. That means a facility in which you can clean out and eliminate not only debris and chemical substances but tiny microbial invaders as well. Food facilities and equipment must be constructed--and able to be maintained--to ensure that they can be effectively cleaned and sanitized over their life. Any piece of the food safety puzzle must be viewed as only a part of the total picture. Any complete food safety program should integrate employee programs, validated and verified processes, good manufacturing practices, sanitary equipment design, analyses of critical control points and continuous improvement processes as well as sanitary facility design.

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